-for the Willapa Bay artists & writers
a bald eagle perches where land
meets sand do they like sunsets
in particular particular
is sand where people drive on the beach
it is confusing
& dangerous & dangerous to swim
because of the undertow
what is a sand dollar how do you know
if a sand dollar is alive
what is an anemone you don’t want
to make an enemy
of an anemone they are brightly colored
is there uni I would love
some uni we take it
to the jetty what is a jetty
a jetty nap is a voyage
to the interior not mad
just Cape Disappointment
what is a cape like a tiny peninsula
erosion is a factor
the confluence of the ocean meeting the Columbia
called the graveyard of the Pacific
we dug for clams in the mud
along the curve of the earth
I don’t believe
in turning down a chowder
often people think I should speak
a little louder do you fear
the Cascadia quake
in case of tsunami we missed
the rising full moon
a buck moon we saw five bucks
out after the sunset
emerging in the beachgrass
out cruising in the spirit
of the residency’s former self —
a gay sanctuary!
Shelley Wong is the author of As She Appears, longlisted for the National Book Award and winner of a Lambda Literary Award. She lives in San Francisco. See Shelley-Wong.com.
photo by Carolyn Kehler
From September 14-25, in honor of her residency at The Betsy Hotel and our 10th anniversary season, SWWIM Every Day will be featuring a selection of poems curated by Sarah Audsley.
Sarah Audsley is the author of Landlock X (Texas Review Press, 2023). A Korean American adoptee, a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, and a member of The Starlings Collective, Audsley lives and works in northern Vermont. She serves as the Writing Program Director at Vermont Studio Center.
We hope you enjoy this special collaboration!