Wallowa wanderings...
Once, this stream turned scarlet
.. like leaves in the fall,
... full of anadromous kokanee
.... fulfilling their promise.
Then... there were big bears
.. and eagles taking their toll...
... and Ni-mee-poo with weirs,
..... smokey fires and drying racks.
Time brought a shift
.. to paler faces with barrels
... and wagons and dams.
..... The fish became much smaller.
Now the old dreams pale,
.. fish are fewer, dark faces rare,
... no more big bears, no room for eagles
..... not even wagons and barrels.
R.Anderson, Wallowa, Oregon
