I was going to post this Gary Snyder poem a few weeks ago when it was still so cold at night, but then I thought, “No, I am not posting any sad hippy poems. I’m past that.”
However, yesterday was the poet’s 81st birthday and, oh look, it’s cold again. So here it is–it’s an old favorite, so the fond memories of first reading it cancel out my desire to shout, “Get a house to sleep in, hippy!” at the end.
Siwashing It Out Once in Suislaw Forest
I slept under rhododendron
All night blossoms fell
Shivering on a sheet of cardboard
Feet stuck in my pack
Hands deep in my pockets
Barely able to sleep.
I remembered when we were in school
Sleeping together in a big warm bed
We were the youngest lovers
When we broke up we were still nineteen
Now our friends are married
You teach school back east
I don't mind living this way
Green hills the long blue beach
But sometimes sleeping in the open
I think back when I had you.