Scott T. Starbuck
Smoked Whale, Circa 1987
Sickly sweet wood smoke wafts
over the central Oregon coast
as three gray whales breathe it in
and dive deep.I call the Oregon Dept. of Environmental Quality
on the whales’ behalf.
“Is this a crank call?” someone asks.
“Are you a crank?” I ask.“Well, what do you want
me to do about it?”
I tell her to prohibit slash burning
on days with east wind,to fill her lungs with wood smoke
and retrieve a quarter
from the bottom of the river.
Bio:
Scott T. Starbuck has had poetry appear in Australia, Canada, England, India, Ireland, Poland, and widely in the United States. Recent poems have appeared in the Nature Writing section at The Raven Chronicles and the October 29, 2006 Sunday Oregonian. Scott has combined his interest in fishing with clay art, some of which is available at Columbia River Gallery in Troutdale, Oregon. His chapbook, The Eyes of Those Who Broke Free, was published in 2000 by Pudding House. He currently lives in San Diego, where he surfs and writes.
