Fog clings to Artemisia californica leaves
Brass hinge sings soft against the cold pier rail
Sagebrush breath holds the tide's retreating breath
Needle settles where the ferry trails
Salty wind writes Latin on my palm
Magnetic north remembers every calm
Two languages root in the same wet sand
One reads the soil, one reads the land
True North lives in a pocket close to bone
Fog burns off when the angle finds its home
Not the pole star, not the satellite
Just this beat between the dark and light
Eschscholzia californica opens gold
Glass face reflects the Bay Bridge cable curve
Poppy cups hold the morning's liquid light
Degrees align where the tankers serve
Salty wind writes Latin on my palm
Magnetic north remembers every calm
Two languages root in the same wet sand
One reads the soil, one reads the land
True North lives in a pocket close to bone
Fog burns off when the angle finds its home
Not the pole star, not the satellite
Just this beat between the dark and light
Sequoia sempervirens drinks the grey mist
Brass lid snaps shut as the fog horn sounds low
Redwood roots drink what the sky dismissed
Bearing holds where the container ships go
True North lives in a pocket close to bone
Fog burns