purple lupines, a poem, barbed wire
embedded in the trunk of an oak tree

an unexpected reminder of things past. you’re
from Chico, right? says the girl behind the
counter at the hipster coffee bar in Oakland.

I left town nearly ten years ago
but I’ve never really gone

some memories miss the center

the orange butterflies collect
at the spring and scatter in
sunlight when approached

villages located on the flats near streambeds
a scattering of conical bark dwellings

at the time of European settlement, these lands were claimed by the Konkow, also referred to as the Northwestern Maidu, Valley Maidu or Michoopda. they most likely occupied sites in the area during the past 500 years.