Long Portage Poems

The Castle On White Otter Lake

That rustic, old log castle
Stands facing the lake.
Built by hand, by one man
To acknowledge his presence,
In a changing world, he felt
He could not participate in.
And so chose to live like...

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The Great Falls of the northern Plains is actually a chain of five seperate waterfalls
varying in height and majesty extending over 12 miles,
they also confirm that the right river was chosen,
we had hoped that the...

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12 hours of excruciating labor pangs have Sacagawea breathing
into the face of Death,
as she violently shakes her head back and forth, teeth clenched,
sweat boiling and eyes furious
it seems to me that she is detetmined to...

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An unkempt man approached me one dark evening
'In pursuit', he said, 'of a favour'
'A drink' he explained, but I was unsure of his meaning
When he specified it should be of a refined yet peculiar flavour
Then...

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THE WAILING CRY OF MAMA AFRICA.
           
Who shall I tell this story
Who will heal this injured glory
We were like Jack and Jim
We climbed the hills...

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THE ISLANDS OF SAN JUAN - TIMESHARE

[FOLKTALE]

IN A PORTION, A SPELL IS CASTE.
THE PEOPLE ARE CALLED NUGLUMMI.
IN A TRANCE STATE, THEY EAT HONEY AND BEES ARE FORM FROM THEIR EYES.
INSIGHTFULLY THEY BEGIN TO TRANSFORM THE...

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Who is the bear;
That is running scared?
Taken what is not his
What it is, what it is;
Telling you what's good for you
And what's not
Drinking portage and hemlock (what)
And who is the lion
whose got the people crying
Saving...

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Deliberately provisioned light on our departure,
Bemidji, Minnesota, is our first port of call.
Though eighty miles by river's reckoning, 
This first stretch is an annual competition
That canoeing experts make in one day, 
But my sister, concerned...

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Just one short portage and the park is ours,
Canoe laden down for a one week stay.
At the site in just a matter of hours.
It has been too long since we got away.

The next morning calm,...

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I
The friend in the deli
of the Piggly Wiggly
in Lodi show me her nails
strikes up conversations
when I come back to town
for a second week of work.

I tell her about the work
on utility lines on county roads
where...

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Chapter 9: Portaging Older Dams

Eleven Minnesota dams we had to portage
All without clear use for folks today
But as the Mississippi is a ‘navigable’ river.
Owners are required by law to transport boats
Around these artificial barriers to...

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Cherry paddle you carved a few years ago.
Short portages in with good trail, except for
One boggy bit to breed mosquitoes.
Mosquito repellent for said boggy bit.
No motorboats after first portage.
Fair wind and clear sky, except for
One...

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A hot and summer evening breeze
In jest tickled the napping bees
Incandescent, of floating musk
Shadows like dancing glow at dusk.

Hugging pine trees from branch to branch
Down on the grass gaily they hopped
Such a beauty I'd like...

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LICKING WOUNDS


Lulling the bye and bye
In dreams that oozed and wept with the regret
Of unfinished business
In the portage veiled with the drift of confusion
Sustained by the envisioned memory
Of snarling words and demon eyes
Ejaculating horror from...

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twists and turns of serpentine.
perfumes that emanate from time to time,
through a wall of quietus-trees.
perils in the doubting waters,
amidst the anaconda, caiman, and piranha.

perhaps, after all, man is the more sinister
as his stomach growls
and his...

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Bring green barges for the winching,
     heft a portage of willowy thrones 
                  ...

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No Anchor for Rancor

Wounded the ship of my soul, 
With tattered sails,
Heels up in malevolence,
Venom puffs out the jib
In leeward grudges of tactless spite
On a pointless reach 
Heading up into retaliation.

Heart hardened sends out a...

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A droning time with its honeycombed eyes;
lives grown beyond their husks.

Bring green barges for the winching of the awakening,
portage willowy thrones to the wind thrummers,
gild each gap with a dewy wine.

Time to pull up the...

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The Portage

There is this distance between the lakes,
Through which the waters race.
Such is the land elevation difference,
Too treacherous for a canoeist to paddle,
And so must traverse by foot.
The higher perched lake continuously flows,
And the lower...

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The world is a sea of gigantic aquarium 
Of immeasurable acreage;
With eclectic species of humans:
Coal, Amber, Snow and Bronze;
365 score days in the whale's gut,
Junketing from Kolkata, Kalamazoo, Kathmandu,
East, West, North and South,
Hustling, jostling, ...

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