Nature Writing

Shining Horns*

Nature Writing at Raven Chronicles Online

2 poems by Scott T. Starbuck

Hiking the Coast Range

Life is not
what I thought

Death is not
what I thought

God is not
what I thought

Beside the brook
there is outrageous
laughter.

Decay

I can't tell
if it's the carcass
of a man
or a seal
or a man-seal

as smelly death
has taken hold
to do its work
of reporting
the real news.

When I die
my fishing buddy
has promised
to place my bones
in a nearby estuary.

What better fate
than a child lifting
my sea-polished rib
and announcing
to the world
"Cool!"?

Scott T. Starbuck lives near the Clackamas River outside Portland, Oregon and in San Diego. His recent work has appeared in The Bathyspheric Review, The Poetry Corner in The Oregonian, Windfall, and the anthology Salt, a Collection of Poetry on the Oregon Coast published by Nestucca Spit Press. His creative nonfiction essay about Northwest salmon and steelhead, "Eagle Creek in April," is forthcoming in Yale Anglers' Journal. Scott has recently combined his interest in fishing with clay art, some of which is available at Columbia River Gallery in Troutdale, Oregon.