Asilomar
for J
The monarchs have mostly left, flown north
to cooler milkweed, but one still flies
here in the forest of evergreen
and hawk-watched live oak. The female
black widow spider crosses
the forest path, amber hourglass
tucked loosely on her abdomen.
White seagull cries then
lands softly in the cypress tree.
Fog bank builds over the water and disperses.
Beneath the cypress, a woman
kneels to watch the coyote, who watches
her, hazel hair over eyes soft
from late nights under the waxing moon.
The Wild House
Asleep in the Wild House of wood and stone,
three types of beast dream: the woman, the cat, the ghost.
Together in the vision worlds, they coast
from realm to realm in cypress tree bark boats.
From the east, cool winds of black and green blow gently
in their pine-bough sails, and comet dust
showers the woman’s hair in gold. Russet-
colored sparks shoot from the sleek-bodied tabby
cat’s tail. The ghost plays the musical bow, a curio
from the time before the known. Sailing
softly westward, their six eyes see a gleam
on the horizon. Worlds collide before
them, great flashes send them tumbling, reeling
back to the barren world farthest from dreams.
Siskiyou Lullaby
I watch deer trot
Cross the mountains
July is raspberry hot
Wet hearts lay large in dry dock
Barge breaks blue water
Heron stalks fish
Brown otter flops
One wet heart caught by
Shasta moon blooms
Regal volcano rests
Whale loom ocean
Bloom Bloom Bloom
Deer trot west
Green blue ocean
Katieann Vogel is a graduate of Pacific University's MFA program, where she was a Katherine Dunn Merit Scholar. She works in her Monterey, CA community as a writer and outdoor educator. Her work has appeared in the Poet Sanctuary Anthology, the Children and Nature Network, and the Pacific Grove Press. She honors her grandmothers, the ocean, and changing tides in her poems.
for J
The monarchs have mostly left, flown north
to cooler milkweed, but one still flies
here in the forest of evergreen
and hawk-watched live oak. The female
black widow spider crosses
the forest path, amber hourglass
tucked loosely on her abdomen.
White seagull cries then
lands softly in the cypress tree.
Fog bank builds over the water and disperses.
Beneath the cypress, a woman
kneels to watch the coyote, who watches
her, hazel hair over eyes soft
from late nights under the waxing moon.
The Wild House
Asleep in the Wild House of wood and stone,
three types of beast dream: the woman, the cat, the ghost.
Together in the vision worlds, they coast
from realm to realm in cypress tree bark boats.
From the east, cool winds of black and green blow gently
in their pine-bough sails, and comet dust
showers the woman’s hair in gold. Russet-
colored sparks shoot from the sleek-bodied tabby
cat’s tail. The ghost plays the musical bow, a curio
from the time before the known. Sailing
softly westward, their six eyes see a gleam
on the horizon. Worlds collide before
them, great flashes send them tumbling, reeling
back to the barren world farthest from dreams.
Siskiyou Lullaby
I watch deer trot
Cross the mountains
July is raspberry hot
Wet hearts lay large in dry dock
Barge breaks blue water
Heron stalks fish
Brown otter flops
One wet heart caught by
Shasta moon blooms
Regal volcano rests
Whale loom ocean
Bloom Bloom Bloom
Deer trot west
Green blue ocean
Katieann Vogel is a graduate of Pacific University's MFA program, where she was a Katherine Dunn Merit Scholar. She works in her Monterey, CA community as a writer and outdoor educator. Her work has appeared in the Poet Sanctuary Anthology, the Children and Nature Network, and the Pacific Grove Press. She honors her grandmothers, the ocean, and changing tides in her poems.
