Fall Color, Headwaters of the Stani 2014

Harvest moon rise,
color in the trees quake.
The creek's hidden leopard strikes.

Camouflaged golden,
fallen leaves conceal, speckled salmonid.
Baetis spinner dance.

Through canyons
into valley
My guide, a hawk,
beckons me onward.

Skinny water,
fishy water,
where brown trout lie
waiting for opportunity,
like me, stealthily stalk.

McCloud River, Emerald Cathedral 10-28-2012

Columns of light cascading,
Emerald green blue,
Dappled variants
Red bands splash.

Turning Dogwoods and Maple,
Willows
Oak
Fir
Cedar
Indian Rhubarb
Moss covered stone,
Tangled branches canopy, reaching.
We add filament and fly’s above, the diaries of our casts.

Sun climbs to zenith.
Canyon walls, a shaded envelop.
Fecund fresh,
this river cathedral.

Splashy rise,
of golden butter hues,
black and red freckles.
Your mighty tug.

Morning air crisp,
The mountains breathe, deep calm.
Even the Dippers are witness to the rivers truth.

Fire-ring tales,
dancing fish, lost fly’s,
Warming feet and soggy socks.
These old leaky waders.

Like minded friends,
Together trouting,
Like Aries and Triangulum,
except light years away.

Clouds parting.
Of volcanic legacy.
Under the Hunters moon.
Caddis flutter and entice.
This river of wonder.