Poem in Place

It's another rainy day in Texas, flash flood warning, too.  A good day to stay inside to read and plan my travels for the rest of the year and next year.

Alaska is a place I want to visit.  I have been planning to get there for the past 30 years, hopefully it will happen sometime in the next few years. Since I am not old enough to retire and still need to work, I have to plan carefully because it will be a costly trip.

There are workamping jobs and other seasonal jobs in Alaska and some offer housing, so I may not need to take the RV, but I like to have all of my stuff with me, so I sometimes think that I just need a camping van or a class B, instead of my current RV. My RV is not too big, but still bigger than I may need. My thoughts are to take the ferry to Alaska, and possibly to drive back down the Alaskan Highway. Or maybe just take the ferry both ways.

I have inquired about jobs with Princess Cruises, at their lodges, and jobs in Seward near Resurrection Bay, the American Bald Eagle Foundation in Haines or working for Aramark again, this time at their Glacier Bay location  There are seasonal jobs posted at usajobs.gov working with the forest service. Many opportunities, I just have to put a plan together and figure out the logistics.
I have even considered living in Alaska for a year, it would be cool to have an Alaskan license plate. If I stayed in the southern parks of Alaska, the weather could not be much worse that a cold, icy winter in Chicago and I have lived through many of those.

Anyway, while reading and researching today, I came across this information about the 

Poem in Place project. 

Emily Wall @ Totem Bright State Historical Park

Every week, I receive an email from a group in Alaska, 49 Writers. Not because I want to become a writer, but to see the news about new books coming out of Alaska, For many years I have been reading any and all books that I find about Alaska.

One of the weekly emails talked about the "Poem in Place" project and there are 2 poems that I want to remember, so I am posting them here on the blog.

Emily's poem was inspired by a poem written many years ago by William Stafford.

Emily, This Place and You by William Stafford

She got out of the car here one day,

and it was snowing a little.

She could see glimpses of those mountains,

and away down there by the river

the curtain of snow would shift,

and those deep secret places

look all the more mysterious.

It was quiet you know.

Her life seemed quiet, too.

There had been troubles, sure

everyone has some.

But now, looking out there.

she felt easy, at home in the world

maybe like a casual snowflake.

And some people love her.

She would remember that.

And remember this place.

As you will, wherever you go after this day,

just a stop by the road,

and a glimpse of someone's life,

and your own, too,

how you can look out any time,

just being part of things,

getting used to being a person,

taking it easy, you know.

This Forest, This Beach, You by Emily Wall

If you were a cedar

you would be waiting for rain to fall

or fall harder,

relaxing your ten thousand needles.

If you were a handful of moss

you would be waiting for the light

so you could climb further

up this rich, fallen log.

If you were a blue mussel

you would be waiting for the tide to rise

to open your lips, to sip.

What a world this is.

Close your eyes and inhale.

Eat a little of this air.

Let it fill your belly.

let the taste of this place

always rest on your tongue.