The first had no eyes.
The second no tongue.
The third fungus gills.
“Salmon people have spoken,”
said the fisherman
to others who stared in disbelief.
Finally, someone asked,
“What did they say?”
Water is too hot to survive,
and you're next.
Unless you listen and change,
the curse you put on us
will be on you, and your children.
* Click here for a video of the dying salmon.
I'm grateful to Windfall, A Journal of Poetry of Place for publishing this poem in the Spring 2022 issue along with work by noted writers Amy Miller, Steve Dieffenbacher, Mark Thalman, Bette Lynch Husted, Penelope Scambly Schott, Marilyn Johnston, Gary Lark, Carlos Reyes, Barbara Drake, Clemens Starck, Charles Goodrich, Dianne Stepp, James Dott, Kim Stafford, Paulann Petersen, Andrea Hollander, Lisa M. Steinman, Tim Gillespie, Pepper Trail, Luther Allen, Joel Savishinsky, Tom Wayman, Eleanor Berry, Michael McDowell, and Bill Siverly.
Regarding threats to Pacific salmon, I saw NPR reported today "A 7.3 magnitude earthquake hits northern Japan." I wrote about the Fukushima issue in 2013 here, here, and here.
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