CHICO TO SF BY TWIN PROPELLER PLANE
The Sacramento river wanders like a snake
through the great Central Valley,
through the great Central Valley,
leaving winter trails of oxbows, cirques, and disks;
serpentine shapes stranded amid the levees.
serpentine shapes stranded amid the levees.
Fields run east to west to the mountains.
Rice levees, an organic mosaic. Earth artists.
The Marysville Buttes rise up like decayed teeth
disrupting the verdant velvet of fields.
We fly over the buttes. Inside the Marysville Buttes
are even more buttes and hidden jeweled lakes,
inside the decayed heart of an old volcano.
disrupting the verdant velvet of fields.
We fly over the buttes. Inside the Marysville Buttes
are even more buttes and hidden jeweled lakes,
inside the decayed heart of an old volcano.
The Inner Coastal Range,
a scalloped shelf—like Zabrisky point.
Ocean sculpted by the great California Sea.
A spill of coastal mountains near Winters
disrupts the parallel symmetry of mountains
pushing against a sea of air and green caps.
a scalloped shelf—like Zabrisky point.
Ocean sculpted by the great California Sea.
A spill of coastal mountains near Winters
disrupts the parallel symmetry of mountains
pushing against a sea of air and green caps.
Odd July snow on the coastal mountains.
Mt. Knocti, on Clearlake, pushes a black horizon,
bas relief of rice paddy patterns in the fields.
The rice farmers will never know that Mt. St. Helena
is pushing the sky up with her woman's body.
bas relief of rice paddy patterns in the fields.
The rice farmers will never know that Mt. St. Helena
is pushing the sky up with her woman's body.
Dry washes of feathered snakes, dendritic memory
coming down the mountains to drink from the valley floor.
coming down the mountains to drink from the valley floor.
Napa Valley on the other side of the divide, an oasis.
Those dry hills hiding black gold, red gold, white gold;
hayfields, plowed earth, a valley of dust.
Then, the slate teeth of Mt. Berryessa gnawing the sky.
Then, the slate teeth of Mt. Berryessa gnawing the sky.
A singer in the fjord, Lake Berryessa laps
at the feet of the Mayacamas, like a cat.
at the feet of the Mayacamas, like a cat.
In the dry regions, yellow pasturage,
the north slopes to the summit, open to the wind.
The lone thumb of Mount Tamalpais, guardian of the bay.
the north slopes to the summit, open to the wind.
The lone thumb of Mount Tamalpais, guardian of the bay.
Point Reyes Peninsula, that island in time, a misty sentinel.
Home. I have full access to the plane, it only holds 12,
and there are only four of us, including the pilot.
Home. I have full access to the plane, it only holds 12,
and there are only four of us, including the pilot.
Mt. Diablo, gatekeeper of the Bay's rivers.
Livermore, on the fault, the nuclear reactor, asleep.
So that's how the great Sacramento drains
into the Bay, over Diablo's feet.
Engulfing one half of the Central Valley
Livermore, on the fault, the nuclear reactor, asleep.
So that's how the great Sacramento drains
into the Bay, over Diablo's feet.
Engulfing one half of the Central Valley
Lowlands—I'm surprised to see nothing grows
in the hills between Vallejo and Vacaville, except grass.
Cross currents in the Bay, a sudden insight,
the realization that the waves take turns
to mesh into each other like a massive weaving.
To the south, the Coyote Hills and and Mission Peak
barely visible beneath the morning fog.
in the hills between Vallejo and Vacaville, except grass.
Cross currents in the Bay, a sudden insight,
the realization that the waves take turns
to mesh into each other like a massive weaving.
To the south, the Coyote Hills and and Mission Peak
barely visible beneath the morning fog.
A passenger asks if I take photos to remind myself of home.
He's late for his date with the US government.
He reads The Art of War. Off to the killing fields.
The plane plane doesn't want to land,
the pilot yells at the plane, Come on, land, goddamnit!
What you don't want to hear a pilot yelling.
The passenger thinks maybe he won't have to serve,
but the wheels reluctantly touch the asphalt.
We shudder to a stop, mere mortals again.
7/9/1983
minor surgery 9/2016 b/c I couldn't read it.
CHICO SF
the river wanders through the great central valley
carving a level journey leaving winter trails
ox bows cirques, discs serpentine shapes
fields outlined in even boundaries
He's late for his date with the US government.
He reads The Art of War. Off to the killing fields.
The plane plane doesn't want to land,
the pilot yells at the plane, Come on, land, goddamnit!
What you don't want to hear a pilot yelling.
The passenger thinks maybe he won't have to serve,
but the wheels reluctantly touch the asphalt.
We shudder to a stop, mere mortals again.
7/9/1983
minor surgery 9/2016 b/c I couldn't read it.
CHICO SF
the river wanders through the great central valley
carving a level journey leaving winter trails
ox bows cirques, discs serpentine shapes
fields outlined in even boundaries
running east west to the mountains
rice levees
Marysville buttes rise up like a decayed tooth
rice levees
Marysville buttes rise up like a decayed tooth
disrupting the verdant velvet of fields
Inside the buttes, more buttes
a hidden lake inside the decayed heart of an old volcano
Inner coastal ranges scalloped shelf like Zabriski point
ocean sculpted by the great California sea
Coastal mountains spill into the Valley near Winters
Inside the buttes, more buttes
a hidden lake inside the decayed heart of an old volcano
Inner coastal ranges scalloped shelf like Zabriski point
ocean sculpted by the great California sea
Coastal mountains spill into the Valley near Winters
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