Vashon Writing Residency
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Vashon Writing Residency
Julene Tripp Weaver
From my window I watch Canadian
geese on the lawn alongside Quartermaster
Harbor. The couple walks daily, pecking
grass, seeking food, holding each other
company, till one day they have an argument—
squawking, the wings on one flails wide
haranguing their spouse. What is wrong
between them to set their universe askew?
Easter Sunday rain pours down. In my room,
I transcended the deluge, diligently working on
edits. Waves choppy on the harbor, a five
mile inlet filled with pollution years ago
from a plant in Tacoma—the push of the sea
knocks against the floating dock. In this shallow
harbor no marine traffic passes. Signs warn
not to harvest toxic shellfish. Ducks, Canadian
geese, and osprey can’t read—so they feast,
broken shells litter the spit.
I let go my goal to harvest Dandelion
when I learn the soil in paradise is toxic,
only raised beds are used to grow food.
I enjoy the beauty—the daily sky,
each sunset, the rise and fall of the shoreline,
safe in a well-built house. We four share
a solid commitment to our art, indulged
in luxury, far from busy cluttered lives.
We nap when needed, welcome
the nurturance we give each other—
shared dinners—feasts of conversation—
growing a closer bond to our work.
Julene Tripp Weaver, a psychotherapist and writer in Seattle, worked in AIDS services for twenty-one years. Her third poetry collection, truth be bold—Serenading Life & Death in the Age of AIDS, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards, and won the Bisexual Book Award. Her next book, Slow Now With Clear Skies, published by MoonPath Press, will be released by June 2024. Widely published, other work appears in HEAL, Mad Swirl, Anti-Heroin Chic, Feels Blind, and recent anthologies: I Sing the Salmon Home, and Rumors Secrets & Lies: Poems about Pregnancy, Abortion & Choice. http://www.julenetrippweaver.com