(1934-1972)
High from the rocks she hurtled down
To lifelessness in waters peaked with stone
Her sure and flagrant daring caught
And whirled and felled by gravity.
What radiances, what darting snares
And starburst poignancies impaled
On those scant shores near Monterey that day.
Could she have leapt up ledges there
When all at once her balance shook –
Spun into line and anchoring somehow
And held against that awful fall –
She would be telling tales to jolt our eyes
Her foothold and her daring matched for life.
Lois Langland, Lines of Rivers