Dark, dark, the forest around us, and dark
the Great Basin hundreds of feet below.
But over our heads—the four of us flat on our backs
on the deck of that rented Forest Service lookout,
far from ambient light—veil upon veil of brilliance
soon to be streaked with meteors heading our way
in predictably wild abandon, as they’re said to do every
August. But had we learned in which part of the sky?
No matter. Morning brought us a blaze of vastness: faint
outlines of mountains a good three hours’ drive away.
And laughter: at the foot of our deck, the stick
of butter Chipmunk stole from Klaus and Britta’s tent.
And now, this hospice room none of us dreamed was coming,
so good had Britta been at keeping vagabond cells at bay.
And now, an incredulity vaster than any
desert or sky: on its way: that moment when
breath streaks unseen across the whole of creation. And is gone.
© Copyright 2024 by Ingrid Wendt
Remembering Winter Ridge by Ingrid Wendt | Sandalwood Poetry Reed Diffuser
Ingrid Wendt is the author of five books of poems (most recently, Evensong) and the co-editor of two anthologies. A classically-trained musician, Ingrid sings with the Eugene (Oregon) Concert Choir, volunteers as an exhibit interpreter at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and has been a visiting poet in hundreds of classrooms at all educational levels, including the Antioch, Los Angeles, MFA program, and in Germany, as a three-time Fulbright Professor. Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Terrain, About Place, American Poetry Review, Calyx, and Cutthroat, among other journals, and have been featured on The Writers’ Almanac. She was a finalist in the 2025 River Heron Prize and received honorable mention in the 2025 Robinson Jeffers Tor House Prize. A chapbook, Keeping It All Afloat, will appear in 2026. Find videos of readings and more at https://ingridwendt.com.
"Remembering Winter Ridge" first appeared in The Orchards Poetry Journal in 2024.
