Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell

Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell

the Pacific Northwest was always

gray and wet

mossy rock slippery

my Aunt’s first husband parked

his car above the Skagit River

its whirl pooling waters as deep

as Steelhead swim

emptied his pockets

a half smoked package of Lucky Strikes

a metal lighter the Marine Emblem

painted on the front

the number of his Korean unit etched

into its back

his wallet with a note folded and tucked

beneath the flap

placed neatly on the bank with his Timex

on top

then he drove over the side

this place is glacier made

evergreens filtering sunlight in the peaks

waterfalls appearing from rock

as if Mosses had struck them with his stick

girder bridges crossing its water as natural

as fallen trees across a trout stream

those unexpected opportunities to crossover