How Adventure Makes Poets Of Us All
If you’ve been touched by wilderness, you’ve probably had some pretty pithy realizations.
If you’ve felt the surge of adrenaline that comes with outdoor adventure, and then rehashed those memories with the friends you shared it with around a campfire later that evening, there were likely some epiphanies articulated.
Sometimes, those joyful expressions find their form in verse.
One of our repeat guests, Lee Marc Stein, was so moved. After a trip on Oregon’s Rogue River, Lee shared this one with us.
Streaming
By Lee Marc Stein
On the Rogue, kayak flipped, white water
swirls away my world of words,
rapids carve sentences into raw sensations.
I become one with folds upon folds
of the current, with spawning steelheads,
lurching logs, boulders embossed with moss.
Ashore, I store infinite pines in my memory,
cherish the rocky poison-oaked trails
to hidden icy ponds and waterfalls.
After resourceful dinners, kidsplay, smiling talk,
stars stare down, light my serenity,
lead me into mornings dewy with excitement.
Now, that is good stuff.
Nice work, Lee.
