ALASKA RAIN FOREST TOWN
By Dan Branch, Juneau
On an early spring day
when only pastel craftsmen
homes remind locals of sunshine and
drenched ravens harmonize with barking dogs,
an imaginative man finds the will
to pull on rain gear,
push outdoors,
ignore drizzle soaking his sensible
if ridiculous Elmer Fudd hat.
He hurries down crooked steps to Gastineau Channel
as if he might see a whale breach off Sandy Beach.
or spot eagles drawn to moored black cod boats
maybe make out summer-white goats on Mt. Juneau.
He wonders what imaginatives
do in his old California suburb where robins
always sing to a blue-bird sky,
crime and crashes provide the drama,
and no one ever expects to see
the flukes of a diving whale.
Having once owned a Craftsman house in Los Angeles, and then moved to the Aleutians, I can truly identify with the author. All, save the Elmer Fudd hat, which I’ve managed to avoid.