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PORTLAND SUMMER
Private Notes
Private Notes
Notes
I ate sausage wrapped in squid tubes
and then I ate grilled lamb with a mint sauce
while we watched people dance on a darkened stage
swinging ropes made of fire
he was drinking White Russians claiming it was the season for such
I drank my beer and watched the burning ropes spinning in circles
then walked around the city for hours
and back home again
crossing the bridge
watching the trains come and go
staring down at the calm waters of the Willamette river
stopping to listen to a young activist tell me
for the price of a cup of coffee a day
I could save a young life in another country
while the homeless woman across the street
held out her hand for change
it was a comfortable late September
if only for one of us
Comments
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All seasons are appropriate for White Russians. I love the note this ended on.
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Honest, direct, sensitive yet not overwhelmed -- good writing and POV.
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I could save a young life in another countrywhile the homeless woman across the street
"held out her hand for change" <- The sad irony of the world we live in. People can be so hypocritical. A lot of people are willing to do for those so far away, but not willing to touch the hands of those near to them, to be a helping hand of change, in their very on community. Lovely poem. Love the moment painted in time.