Bridge over 15 Mile Creek
–Dufur, Oregon
The night’s velvet hands guide us
under a moon not quite full but full enough
as we hug the gravel verge against
the occasional oncoming semi.
Finches and doves quiet now,
only our voices whisper to each other
and, beyond the school yard,
a dog interested in our passing.
It’s the first of June, warm enough
to walk without a jacket. As we pass
the ancient tractors, their rusty sighs
speak of forgotten furrows, mulch
and earthworms. Amber wheat fields
succulent and wavering. To the west,
the snow-covered mountain governs
all that can be seen from its craggy peak.
Suzy Harris lives in Portland, Oregon. Her poems have appeared in Calyx, Clackamas
Literary Review, and Switchgrass Review, among other journals and anthologies. Her
chapbook Listening in the Dark, about hearing loss and learning to hear again with
cochlear implants, was published by The Poetry Box in February 2023.
