Pend Oreille
I never knew that
Name
The Docks, The Caves
Connected lost boys
The Dam and The Old Dike
Keep foreboding secrets
The allure of mischief
Your current
Pushed, resisted and crushed
Clichés
Perpetual strength
Demanding respect
From adolescent boys
Diving from
Forgotten totems
Perch and Sunfish
Peck at forgotten lines
Bass and Pike struggle
For the right to rule
Your channels
Legends under docks
Legends of those who
Refused to leave
Despite knowing you
My short life
I sometimes forget
Forget you have lived
Lives beyond my sight
My story of you
Is that of excitement
And love
But there are those
Who have walked
Your sandbars
And as they vanished
So did their footprints
Those whose lifetimes
Spent with you
Spent long before
I sat at your shore
I come to you
In need of
Solace
A crying boy
Who misses his father
When society failed
And we were left
Among our thoughts
We ran to you
To remember how we felt
When the beads formed patterns
We recognized
This excerpt was originally published in On Resilience: Stories of Climate Adaptation Across Washington’s Landscapes, by Harriet Morgan and Lindsay Senechal, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and Writing the Land® poets. It is reprinted with permission of WDFW, Writing the Land, and the authors.
It is the second of four excerpts from the anthology.
On Resilience is a poetry anthology created in partnership with NatureCulture®’s Writing the Land program. The collection highlights how WDFW manages more than 1 million acres of land across Washington and documents the ways climate change is affecting ecosystems, including warming stream temperatures, shifting snowpack, increased wildfire risk, and changes in species’ seasonal patterns. Each section pairs place-based management summaries with poems inspired by specific wildlife areas, offering readers both a science-based understanding of how WDFW is adapting natural resource practices and a creative reflection on the connections between people, land, and climate.
Sky M. Pagaling is a poet from the Kalispel Indian Reservation. Drawing from his cultural roots, his work reflects the beauty and challenges of contemporary Indigenous life. Published in Snilitn: Writings About Home, Sky was a featured poet at the 2022 One Heart Intertribal Poetry Slam who has coordinated seven Native American events for Spokane Expo ’74. A community leader and advocate for Indigenous entrepreneurship, Sky aims to inspire future generations to embrace love, leadership, and empowerment while honoring their heritage.
Header photo by Jenny Sturm, courtesy Shutterstock.
