Wallowa Valley Poem by Kent Werges

Stagehand fog
brings backdrops out and in.
Now revealing, now hiding
a faded farmhouse,
a somber silo, barns,

On come memories
of ferns and forests, before fences,
silver rivers, paved with salmon,
cerulean skies, with
only the campfire's haze.

The performance begins
in another millennium
pale preacher and darker disciple,
the children of both nations,

compromise and deceit,
the loss of home and food.
The long journey
brings native tears.

Some may not know
the name of Chief Joseph
or others in the last ensemble.

The trails, once followed
on foot and Appaloosa,
are disappearing
to those who live here.
Pavement covers the theater..