These twenty poems and twenty paintings are reflections on living and working in Italy and Mexico for five months of the last year. As I painted and wrote about these places I felt the Pacific NW wanting to visit too. I felt disparate places wanting to fall in love. Whales swallowed whales. Temples fell in love with high voltage transmission towers. Old Gods happily went hiking in the Cascades. Who am I to say no when an Umbrella Pine wants to ski Mt. Hood? I hope you’ll join me in welcoming them to our beautiful part of the world.

The Temple of Castor and Pollux Falls in Love in the Pacific Northwest

Eventually the temple grew unfaithful to Rome,

desired to see other temples.

It took several centuries to arrange

but finally the ruins jumped ship

in the Pacific Northwest,

where they fell in love

with a high voltage transmission tower

in the Columbia River Gorge.

The local kids fell in instant love,

scaled the ancient shape

and threw their fists in the air.

In return, the three columns

paired them up with a God.