From the side of the trail
a long graceful stem
carries the sky.
An elegant form.
Royal.
A fleur-de-lis
gracing a magnificent scene,
the edge of an ermine robe
leaves here
traces of blue silk.
The form was designed
by the sacred ones
for the holy places.
Iris, so the eye can perceive
the depth of ocean within.
Held and mesmerized
by a center
of purity.
Here, where the ground
meets the sky.
JoRene Byers grew up on the ancestral land of the Clatsop (łät’cαp). Spending her childhood listening to the Pacific in Seaside, she heard stories of the coast and Neahkanie Mountain, the “place of the Creator.” She lives in the High Desert now, never forgetting the sound of the ocean.
