CA. PRIMEVAL

California’s First Peoples
Arrived From Beringia
In boats of skin, reeds or logs
Along Ocean rivers of Kelp.

Settling, long, long ago
Amidst relict Megafauna
In Desert, Mountain and Meadow
In Forests of Oak and Fir.

Adapting, long, long ago
To their new home:
To the Land as it warmed
To the Sea as it rose.

Over this wide Sea
Europeans first came to Look.
Then they returned Across the Land
To Displace a Settled People.

Establishing, all at once,
Missions, Roads and Fortifications.
Growing irrigated crops
Raising pigs, sheep, cattle and hens.

More Arrived
Damming rivers, cutting forests
Digging in dirt for gold and oil
Ever Building, Ever Forgetting.

Oblivious:
In Ages of Drought and Flood
To the Land as it warmed
To the Sea as it rose.