we watch the salmon pass, as though
their climb back to the rivers hinged on choice
and not the thin, clear message of the blood.
we stand here, embarrassed almost, as if viewing
home movies of ourselves as children – no
soundtrack, just our lost, vulnerable bodies
come back to remind us: history, which watches
us move our lips, isn’t paying attention.
~Gary Miranda, excerpted from ‘Salmon Ladder at the Government Locks, Seattle’ (1980)
