by Jim Ross
Polvadera Creek
“Thus it was we came to no longer reach the ocean.”
Jorie Graham
There were reports of a bear in the area that summer.
Twice a day –
in the morning & then again at dusk –
we would walk the dogs on the gravel track
all the way out to the sluice gates.
We’d bring whistle, spray, a 6-iron.
The dogs would kick up dust on the exposed ridge
before entering the cool bosque.
They’d stand in
the creek where it is so narrow
you can hop across it.
Here, we would listen to the mountain songbirds:
towhee, yellow-breasted chat, bushtit, indigo bunting.
The meadow was ringed by
Indian paintbrush & white evening primrose;
scattered about were
hardy fleabane, sweet clover, redstem stork’s bill,
tiny wild geraniums with a slight citrus scent.
We never saw evidence of a bear.
No scat, no tracks,
not so much as a rustling in the dense pine.
Then, one evening, just as the sun was setting,
we came upon
a muscular sorrel mare drinking in the middle of the creek,
a young brown woman, seated bareback & nursing,
her long black hair flowing down her back & shoulders,
having descended from the Tsi Pin mesa.
That day
the creek flowed through the forest,
emptying into the desert lake miles away,
gushing through the channel below the dam,
churning toward the Rio Grande & the Gulf of Mexico.
But what of tomorrow?
Horse & rider & child remain there still.
They could make the water.
They could bring it to us.
Would
we drink?
MF Drummy holds a PhD in historical theology from Fordham University. He is the author of numerous haiku, articles, essays, reviews, poems, and a monograph on religion and ecology (Being and Earth). His work has appeared, or will appear, in 3 Sisters, Allium, Amethyst Review, Connecticut Review, Eunoia Review, Feral, Frogpond, Mayfly, Shamrock, Worldviews, and many others. He and his wife of nearly 20 years enjoy splitting their time between the Colorado Rockies and the rest of the planet. He can be found at: X @mdrummy56 Instagram @miguelito.drummalino Website https://bespoke-poet.com
Jim Ross jumped into creative pursuits in 2015 after a rewarding research career. With a graduate degree from Howard University, in eight years he’s published nonfiction, fiction, poetry, photography, hybrid, and plays in 200 journals on five continents. Photo publications include Burningword, Camas, DASH, Feral, Litro, Kestrel, Phoebe, Stonecoast, Sweet, and Typehouse. He is a 2024 Best of the Net nominee in Art.