Sunrise 11/11/23

The Northern Pacific Kennewick-Pasco Bridge

Photos by Jonathan Potter ⓒ 2023

A windy morning on the river.
I walk the wind of the cable bridge
from the Pasco side out over the water.

My back to the wind, I face the east,
looking out at the old railroad bridge,
a vestige of the colonial invasion

that started with Lewis and Clark
and continues apace with housing developments
springing up in the desert where I make

my rounds with fast food deliveries
to white folks and brown folks
and gray ones in the dim light.

I handed a fiver to a young man
with a cardboard sign I didn't read
who told me about trying to retrieve

his stuff from the sheriff and not having
much luck. Good luck, I said, and:
I love you. I surprised myself saying that

and I wonder if he, too, was surprised
or shocked by my reflexive expression
of some kind of kindness as I continued 

on my way to this sunrise so shockingly
gorgeous in the wind. 

See also: https://nprymuseum.org/pasco-kennewick-bridge/