July 15 Detail of gathered materials
July 19, 2021 In Epic Walk Diaries, poetry, Research By mlantin

Epic Walk Diaries (July 15)

the smell of cedar
captured
breezy wheezy dusty and loud
by a too dangerous—for you—lumber mill

delivered onto old technology
rails and slats
a spike! the First Spike, not the Last
flying grasshoppers – with action timelines
dried rat husks, two unknown ends
stagnant canal imagined mutated life
lined with corn flower

a guy on the fence
a bag on the pole
both wave in the wind

cement wombs
hiding spiral blades
enticingly empty, inert cocoons
perfect for songs of resonance

shoreline refuse refuge
new old fibre shredded, pulped
molded, wetted, watered, sliced, diced
delivered
we smell the rot

finally the jade river
grasses and mud
aster surprises
iris pods
skunk cabbage masquerading as bananas
papyrus? we may be denihilists

a brutalist abandoned boat
a heron on set

detoured again
this time by the shore itself
delivered to bracken water nettles brambles spiders
oh the memories

ground zero of cheesy rot
high or low road?
we go low
alarm sounds – shrug

rocket for the middle class
sends us to the trestle stoner bridge
a fitting dead end

—-

[
Start: 1:02pm
End: 4:15pm
North Arm Bridge to Mainland Sawmills, denied entry, follow railway to Southernstar Enterprises, to Kent bike path, past Lafarge, Mason Sewing, lunch at the riverview private park with a cool breeze (technology for living), onto the shore, under the bridge, around an inlet, scramble up to a smelly pile of reclaimed wood, down the embankment, to an abandoned bridge at the foot of Prince Edward Ave, back onto Kent, retracing steps and picking up stored steel spikes along the way, back to Lola.
]


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STEAM2020 Feb9 Detail of gathered materials
February 10, 2020 In Epic Walk Diaries, poetry, Research, STEAM2020 By mlantin

Epic Walk Diaries (Pensacola) February 9

perdido toward perdido
never quite though
the indolent (beep beep)
keeps us rotating north

lime yellow green
spike stems
glowing in moist grasses
memories of horsetail
neither moss nor pine
vascularly rhyzomic
sporifically versatile
the original flash photography

happy black snake
not seen      seen
not bothered either way

long live the longleaf pine
from grass to tree
needly joyful fireworks
friends of fire
blue skies and wind

pine savannahs
pulped to near extinction
colonized by slash and loblolly
saved by love and rainwater
long live the longleaf pine

saw palmetto
pierce ground and brush
radiate blades
cut through uncertainty
with planar precision

scintillating
sleepy tubing river
I can see alabama from here

first timers greet
memories of the ancient
no hurry
the snake shall remain black
long live the longleaf pine

memories of alberta
wild rose country
catching
brambly
insistent

quiet budding
summer to us
winter to them

simple vertical
calming spindles
this forest is hope

—-
[
Start 1:33pm
End 4:53pm
From University towards Illian, recalculating,
recalculating, to Perdido River Nature Preserve,
onto trail, didactic panels, sunning snake, muddy patches,
to the river bank, a look at alabama, quick chat with the local,
back to trail, stymied by mud and brambles,
escape to private property, wet feet, lunch on the road,
boardwalk through the bog, sleeping pitcher plants,
long leaf pine savannahs, grasses, back to private property,
feathery finish to The Indolent (now loblolly).
]

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April 21 Detail of Materials
April 21, 2019 In Epic Walk Diaries, poetry, Research By mlantin

Epic Walk Diaries (April 21)

circumvent the upper class
kin yet rejected
not prepaid
private you know
musqueam welcome
he said river
walking good
a dog rides cheerful
meander to laughter
family
tidal flats
pretend easy
bones say otherwise
dispersed vertebrae
skull     memories of eyes
spineful finale
stick to the grass!
mud traps and chasms
oil underlay
rivulets    at some scale
rivules really
follow the line serpentine
algorithmic life art merger
reed waves
rise and drape
hide and house
red winged black birds
check check
bushtits pootiweet
do we only hear alarm calls?
human detritus
photogenic barrels and balls
easter gloves
reed mud life asserts
life wins
patient
stoic sentinel field
ritual ancestors
stand orderly
skeletal
siren song
mud bounce
d e t o u r
chasm labyrinth 
go left!
stick to the grass
leap!
part the typha forest
log highways
positively running now
surprise opening
listening oasis
layers of song
greenery boundary
contrasting relief
honest map check
grit to origin
taunting brambles
brambles mud
brambles branches
brambles reeds
brambles roses
cedar saviors
water bombs
coloured goals
pull
sorrel  irises
yellow  white  pink
just unwrapped green
horsetail forests
nettles
awake awake awake
up the creek
cedar root path
fern handles
red berry finish
i hope you laugh
--
[
Start 1:15pm
End 6:05pm
Avoid the colonial greens,
to Musqueam cultural rotunda,
meet the dog, witness the egg hunt,
down to the river flats.
around and around up and down backwards
leaping slipping sinking
scrambling brambling
backward tracking to the creek
remembered climb back to colonial greens.
Encounter on private land, you know.
road to Lola with unexpected forest walk.
]
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