North Coast Heroes

We travelled up the Northern California Coast
Raining so much the roads filled with water;
headed to Fort Ross, our November destination

You held my hand all the way

Water to the floorboards, a highway landslide,
liquid, muddy and indifferent
Nothing was said as we exhaled our alarm

I held your hand tighter

The storm, somehow angrier because of this,
let us know it was still young and full of rage
as we neared the rental on the hill
as it was known by the local knowers of such things,
well hidden by the night and neighboring trees

The storm voiced its’ displeasure with our arrival,
and our small braveries from the day,
with a harder rain and swirling “boomers”
smashing against the shore nearby – so loud!

As we sat on the steps of a rickety deck,
rain splashing and pounding all around us,
trading heroic tales from our journey
we laughed so much our stomachs ached

And we held hands even tighter

Visiting local landmarks the next day,
we felt obliged to pay our respects to the totem gods,
standing valiant and unswayed,
stacked one on top of the other
perched high on the coastal rocks

Making their magic faces of anger and bluster
Frightening away the weaker spirits of harm
while looking after the people of the coast,
and those who still visit them there