10 Knife River in November

I.

My first trip –  I stayed in the car

Through mesh of sparse trees

lies a carcass of driftwood

(Birch)

Slate blocks rise and fall in the lake (windy today)

White caps rush and dissolve

round lonely rocks – Frozen humpback whales… But this is not Cape Cod

Empty branches frame my view in curlicue formation

Always this rushing wind!

Stillness here

Is never Still.

II.

I ventured out, crunching through black sand and rocky shore to “feel” the water up close –

magic mirror.

For as slate blue the expanse, it is rippled glass before me, close up.

This is a dark land. Bed of multivariate stones seem quite still.

(Upon further inspection a few tiny stones are carried to and fro by gentle wave –

lap and pull back, lap and drag… back.)

And then there are more. Along the edge the stones jump and sway

Bubbles, skittering and clinking

Tiny island up ahead, here at Knife River

The rocks that looked like humpback whales last time, today look more like rocks.

This is a winter landscape… And it’s only November.

I’ve waited to leave the comfort of home today. And the daylight is subtly fading.

But to my right the sky is lit with a contrail that spans the horizon.

And another thinner one forms farther out, away.

Soon we will see a V, it seems.

Too far away, I shake my head. Will never meet.

Could be threads of cottonball, could be today’s only rainbow. But the tail is lit like heaven

The warmth of sun seems

Unattainable still.

Too far from my heart

Hat and gloves can’t fool me – The world

Is

Cold.

III.

And I note, “write about orange lichen, adorning the rocks that rise out of a little cove.”

And as I rest my notebook and my belly against this lovely crag-home

Rusted brightly with lichen –

A new birch rises in front of me. I notice. Rising from the rocks. Only 6 feet high

Stripped of leaves, it is sparseness, barenaked.

But standing tall in this rolling wind.

How gentle the sounds of the waves, the lake lapping the rocks, kissing, then bursting into white caps.

How gentle. How shockingly cold.

My fingers burn and will turn

Numb.

Landscape rich and teasing –

and there is still an awkward

trek through the beach of stones

Before I reach the car.