From the Levee by Kurt Olson

You can see them in the groggy dawn,

wearing plaster-stained sweatshirts

and logging-company trucker caps,

casting 14 lb test into the confluence

connecting the Snake and the Clearwater.

A hundred power boats float

together, their captains and crews biding

time before the steelhead come home.

Before too long, the rods will bend

and the hoots and “Oh Shits”

will skip across the water.

Some of them will have beer for breakfast.

All of them will go to work at the mill

east of here after they clean their catch.

You will watch it all from the levee,

and the memory will never

be enough when you skip town.

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Kurt Olson was once in an MFA program, but the stress-puking and nervous breakdowns made him realize he should stop that. He ferments chili peppers and cabbage sometimes. He lives with his wife, Allie, and their absurd number of cats. @cranberrytroy he/him