Alaska boat docks
like big people did
in imagination
fished the little kid
boatmen on the wharf
cleaning the night's haul
I fashioned family
of nothing at all
pretending with a
twig pole and barnacle
down upon the bay
my tabernacle
barnacles so named
removal attempts fail
I ditched fishing
made pole into sail
then clacking my stick
when litter boat drowned
frightening the fish
with annoying sound
makes no sense to me
to the men I said
how could I scare them
they're already dead!
(they just wagged their heads and gestured something in Tlingit that looked like "crazy kid.")
admiring their catch
bright sockeye salmon
day-glo red grapefruit
with quicksilver skin
busy working folk
no children around
they couldn't play at
treacherous playground
fish gut slippery planks
steep and stinky too
where else to play when
no one cared or knew
absent parents shoo
6 y/o alone to play
to work at nothing
each went their own way
They said God said to
convert the heathens
many moon miles away
no one told the Indians
no pews nor pulpit
church to missionary
my grandparents warned
it was all imaginary
I guess they expected
God would just provide
when that didn't happen
they changed tune and lied
Now I was burden
plus some arm candy
having a small kid
came in quite handy
they said God absolved
their responsibility
took full advantage of
native hospitality
God-willed vacation
kick back and relax
work was for others
I fell through the cracks
in town with no home
from flophouses to tents
strange place where strangers
worried more than parents
Her homemade heaven
in stumps and acorns
saw a roll top desk
with moss she adorns
driftwood drifter combs
pebble shell beach sand
finds longed-for comfort
like grandfather's hand
where were the people?
why so far from home?
just flotsam for friends
Where Too-Young did roam?
best and worst childhood
live somewhere between
Chilkoot and Chillkat
mountain lake serene
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