Kananaskis Is

Kananaskis is 
four-fifths a line of  haiku
Kananaskis is

With spring’s sudden warmth
serial avalanches thunder
one triggers the next 

Winter’s snow melting 
laughing, leaping, running to 
valley far below

Green slopes banded red
dying lodgepole pine,  memories	
of last year’s Chinook

Golden larch quivers	
as the first storm of winter
passes close tonight

As a boy, I came
to know this quiet valley 
father's special place 

Leaving highway to
where mountains reach to heaven
we drove the stone road

Fishing beaver ponds
dad came on bees, lost his specs 
on return  just bees

One night as we camp
a timberwolf comes to call
returns to dark night

On the upper lake
clouds mask the solar eclipse
but fish go crazy

One spring’s discovery
drawdown pools, teeming with trout 
who won’t touch anything

A five pound rainbow
beached chasing Peter’s lure
red stripe - jealousy

Late autumn, Lake B
big browns cruise downwind beaches
only we know where

A ski resort appears
wonderland needs paved roads
we protest in vain

Twenty years later
returning with my children
to an unknown place

If you slow to look
irate traffic leans on horns	
rushing to their lodge

My kids and I fish
a borrow pit now a“lake”
tourists' put and take

To a grizzly bear
roads are barriers wider	
than flooding rivers

Kananaskis is 
four-fifths a line of  haiku
Kananaskis is


MM
Copyright © | Year Posted 2014

Poem

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Mcintosh Avatar
July 20, 2014 at 12:40 AM
Very nice. I enjoyed reading your poetry. God bless you, Gina
Rodgers Avatar
July 20, 2014 at 9:38 AM
Thanks Regina, i appreciate your stopping and leaving a comment. Enjoy your day.
Dietrich Avatar
July 8, 2014 at 4:27 PM
hmmm, that is an interesting definition of the poem's title. What made you think to say it that way? No matter, the imagery is quite lovely and that is what poetry is all about, including haiku AND your Kananaskis.
Rodgers Avatar
July 8, 2014 at 4:49 PM
Thanks Andrea, I was playing at haiku, syllables and Kananaskis and a haku string emerged. Kananaskis was a precious place for me and holds a lot of memories.
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