(Peace) 320˚ NW

(Peace) 320˚ NW

From where the red-winged blackbirds sing
on the cattails of the Schel-Cheb marsh
and the blue camas flowers bloom
planted by Gale Cool in a prairie genesis
the smooth shore of Kitsap’s village
the Suquamish called “Bringing-it-home”
opens out to the waves of Rich Passage,
and beyond Rainier rises sixty miles away,
its great gray ridges sharp,
its massive glaciers white.

At home in this sunlight
the strong irony strikes Don Mowatt:
on the phone from Pleasant Beach
talking to a survivor in Bosnia,
knowing he is to go, the call’s been made.
Peace spreads by being left behind.

- poem by kent chadwick