a long drive
on a short winter day
land masses stayed
by bridge after bridge
the on ramps airy
and undulatory
and backlit
by a low blinding sun
the waterways also
meandering
but with less precision
a few straggling salmon
follow gradients from the bay
up into creeks
still swollen from rain
and redefining their banks
an eagle roosts
by the end of the freeway
in flight all these
bisecting paths
are rendered flat
as branches,
as cursive,
unintelligible tracts
for a being with no need,
no concept of fixed routes
OPTIONAL POETRY 