hiking the Klickitat trail     

the river widens along our journey

the ghostly remnants of railroad tracks

mark our trek along the path

of a railroad that leads nowhere

slowly meandering

through endless rolling hills

of golden flowers and purple larkspur

looking over oak-filled valleys

that share the landscape with

sacred thornapple, dogwood

and ponderosa pines

descending into Swale Canyon

we discover railroad spikes

dotting the route

a reminder of the past

an uncanny array of artifacts

juxtaposed against native grassland

animal skulls bleached white by the sun

metal washers, nuts, plates, and other

remains of defunct machinery

are part of the landscape

a serendipitous and unplanned collage

Douglas Campbell lives in Portland, Oregon. He is Professor Emeritus of Art at George Fox University where he taught painting, printmaking, drawing and art history courses. His poetry and artworks have been published in numerous periodicals and journals.  You can see Douglas’ artwork at: http://www.douglascampbellart.com