Unfortunately the restored run is in a precarious state and may fail. It seems that the water temperature of the Deschutes River is too warm due to deforestation and global warming.
salmon have returned to spawn the Deschutes,
navigating by primal memories written in DNA,
an internal Tom-Tom GPS wired in their brains.
Watching them struggle up the ladder,
consumed with a drive to leave offspring,
they are herculean athletes battling
the current and the inexorable pull of gravity.
Were these the fry I helped to seed four years ago?
A Squaxin woman told me once,
ghosts of her Coastal Salish ancestors
ride the salmon out to sea and home again.
Roe in these redds dream also of the sea,
their salty eyes and nostrils perceiving
spirits in secret claret-red kelp beds.
The waters ask only to be haunted again.
Poetry by Brian Oarr
Read 588 times
Editors' choice
Written on 2009-02-28 at 00:22
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Chinook Restored to Tumwater
Redds shine like new nickels on the dark river bottom,salmon have returned to spawn the Deschutes,
navigating by primal memories written in DNA,
an internal Tom-Tom GPS wired in their brains.
Watching them struggle up the ladder,
consumed with a drive to leave offspring,
they are herculean athletes battling
the current and the inexorable pull of gravity.
Were these the fry I helped to seed four years ago?
A Squaxin woman told me once,
ghosts of her Coastal Salish ancestors
ride the salmon out to sea and home again.
Roe in these redds dream also of the sea,
their salty eyes and nostrils perceiving
spirits in secret claret-red kelp beds.
The waters ask only to be haunted again.
Poetry by Brian Oarr
Read 588 times
Editors' choiceWritten on 2009-02-28 at 00:22
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text|
Achernar |
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Editorial Team |
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jenks |
