Two Late January Octets

28th ave octet

(1/29/17)

burgundy, zaffre, gold balloons on ribbons

float at the parking lot gate; three bare maples,

bark almost white where moss hasn’t taken hold,

gesture without regard for geometry—

mural of Sun Wukong, lance brandished: curved bridge,

clouds circling clouds, triangular coral mountains—

green building’s roof notched where the catalpa bough

inclines then juts upward, receiving one crow

◦           ◦            ◦

willamette river octet

(1/29/17)

white throng of gulls across the black Willamette

afloat under the seawall or thrashing air

in parabolic flight between light towers;

a scrub jay’s shrill invisible outburst from

green flood of arbutus & bramble below

the Eastbank Freeway; south of the Morrison

two cormorants share a log where current swirls,

each lifting dark wings as though flying in place

Jack Hayes

© 2017