Today, my rake is a leaf and thatch comb,
and its tines call chickadee’s jaunt—
tip a cap, bounce a bough, glean a seed chickadee,
chickadee dee.
And somehow our coy acquaintance minds the time
I spent in Mexico with 3 black-capped nuns
bobbing in a boat on the salt pan birth waters
of Magdalena lagoon,
where we shared shy and unspoken hope
of gleaning a glance at a gray whale.
There, too, in the glint of regard from whale and calf—
new and molded from candle wax—
I recognized fellow pilgrims in the boat and beyond.
“THERE’S NO THROUGH TRAIL” —HAN-SHAN, TRANSLATED BY GARY SNYDER
Magdalena Lagoon
by Jennifer Dennehy
Issue: Spring/Summer 2021
About Jennifer Dennehy
Jennifer Dennehy has been an early childhood teacher for these last 20 years. She lives in Colorado with her family, 2 cats, 2 hens, a tortoise and with neighborhood foxes, songbirds, hawks and owls in the cottonwood and ponderosa trees. This is her first publication.
Cold Mountain Review is published once a year in the Department of English at Appalachian State University. Support from Appalachian’s Office of Academic Affairs and College of Arts and Sciences enables CMR’s learning and publications program. The views and opinions expressed in CMR do not necessarily reflect those of university trustees, administration, faculty, students, or staff.