Mendocino Poems

These are poems inspired by a place, Mendocino.  It is a small town on the northern coast of California.  My family has been going there every summer for over 50 years and now I take my son.  It's really special. 

Coastal

It is possible that there are
cliffs like these in other places but
I refuse to believe they are as beautiful.
That anywhere else the sky forms
a more elegant tapestry.
That those other waves crash as symphonically
against such perfectly carved rocks.
That the song the sea foam sings on other shores
is as sweet as the lullaby I hear right now.

The Show

You can pay $18.50 for a ticket to the planetarium 

or you can sit in a field unpolluted by lights 

during the Perseid meteor shower.  

The crickets will narrate 

instead of Morgan Freeman.

The temperature in the theater 

is subject to change without notice

and since the footage is unedited 

your patience is required. 

Still, you can be quite certain 

that the universe extends beyond the ceiling

that the infinity of stars are twinkling in real time and 

that the one you just watched has not already 

been used up on some other person's wish.