- Richie

Alaska Is...

       Alaska is a friend that you knew when you were very young who grew up as you grew up too and you grew apart to the point of being unrecognizable to one another.  Then when you are old you see Alaska in the street looking at apples lined peacefully in ascending ranks and you think of Alaska’s forth Halloween costume, a ghost, for which you have always had a special place in your heart.  This makes you smile, to see Alaska now and remember Alaska as a child when the past was spun from fog, holding a bag of candy.  Alaska looks up from the apples: 9/17 of a haiku.  A moment passes.  That moment is an ice age and neither of you moves for 3,000 years.  The apples stay fresh and no wind disturbs your memory, beset upon all sides by a home made ghost costume. 
You say to Alaska: “hello.”
To which Alaska replies in tones of glacial sincerity: “my god, it’s so good to see you again.”

Final Reflections

Up up
North to the rain
Among mountains and mist
In the belly of a whale
I was

South now
Old tent wrapped tight
From water over rocks
I go

Buzzing
Hours from now
Upon waking from sleep
I will remember myself here
With joy

This reflection is written in the sin quaim form of poetry.  It was taught to me on this trip from Michael Kellogg.