On Vacation in Ontonagon, Near Agate Beach

On Vacation in Ontonagon, Near Agate Beach

I ascend flights, count each tread in the spirals of lighthouse towers. Observation from above changes everything to mercury. A black bear tag-along, finally tops the summit, mouth breathing like an obese man, settles her rump on concrete, nose pressed against the window. Fogged. Cleared. Fogged. Cleared. Gawps lakeside, discounts the forest as pedestrian. We might swim over to Canada. Learn to speak French, growl in French. Across the pebble parking lot ambles the cub, head raised, snout quivering. Pause, lick a grill grate, nibble a nasturtium, sniff at an automobile tire where yappy dog lifted his leg. Descent is falling forward into a new world, shadowy, each stair indistinct, until eyes readjust from sun-bright to murk. Pupils expand as the world shrinks to real.