Vista point from above the city on Highway 30 :
log poles stacked horizontal to the Columbia River
chalk-white plumes stretch taller.
Cars cross the Lewis-Clark Bridge
built by Joseph Strauss, the same man
who designed the Golden Gate, this one
a single thread between southern Washington
and Oregon that doesn’t charge sales tax.
On weekends, people cross over to the other side
and shop at one of Portland’s big boxes,
drive back home to where they pay no income tax
giving them the best of both worlds.
R.D. Long is the big man in town,
his bronze statue sits along Commerce Street,
a lumber baron who built a planned city,
his Lake Sacajewea named
after the Shoshone woman who guided
Lewis and Clark on their Pacific expedition.
The Cowlitz Indians of Kelso were recognized
by the Federal Government in 2000.
There is a health center in town named after them.
An Indy Way truck stop owned by Chevron
gets a good review on Google : “clean
with a large variety of snacks, drink, and fresh food.”
Funnel cakes and twisted fries with toppings,
corn dogs a foot long, giant slushies with green wings.
You can’t find a spot anywhere near the river.
A young mother has two small footprints on her arm,
side-by-side her tattoo forms a butterfly with a blue antenna.
She has another at the back of her neck.
