The Parksville gulls are gone.
In the morning, the wide ring
of the Pacific tub is circled
and weeded by ravens, fierce, biting.
In Kwakiutl myth
the culture hero, Raven,
liberated the daylight,
invented fresh water,
brought Salmon,
gave fire to the world and
controlled the tides.
That’s what Chief Henry Speck said.
This was long before smallpox,
plague, and the chopped totem poles
fell like blighted timber.
I said the gulls are gone.
Come out and look:
the ravens
are gatheringthe flock
is dense,
solid,
making single
great Raven
watching
watching
one huge eye
on the tide.