BLUEBERRIES AND CRAYFISH Cliff Watson
—Form after Billy-Ray Belcourt, Shapes of Native Nonfiction (UW Press, 2019).
I LOVE TO WALK THE BELLEVUE LAKE-TO-LAKE TRAIL \ MY DOG WINSTON IS A BIG FAN, PEEING ON EVERYTHING ALONG THE WAY \ MESSAGES \ I WAS HERE \ I BRING LITTLE BAGS TO COLLECT AND THROW AWAY HIS DOGGY BUSINESS \ THIS CAN MAKE RUNNING CHALLENGING, A STOP-AND-GO AFFAIR \ THE TRAIL IS A HODGE-PODGE OF GRAVEL DIRT BARK ASPHALT \ SIX YEARS OF WALKIES \\ I LOVE TO PICK BERRIES AT THE LARSEN LAKE BLUEBERRY FARM ALONG THE TRAIL \ I BRING A BUCKET AND WEIGH THEM AT THE SHACK BY THE MAIN ROAD \\ I READ THAT DUWAMISH PEOPLE LIVED IN THIS AREA FOR OVER ONE THOUSAND YEARS MAYBE TEN THOUSAND YEARS \ PERHAPS SOME OF THEM ENJOYED PICKING BERRIES NEAR LARSEN LAKE \ SALMONBERRIES RASPBERRIES TRAILING BLACKBERRIES STRAWBERRIES HUCKLEBERRIES SALAL THIMBLEBERRIES \ I WONDER ABOUT BLUEBERRIES \ WHICH ARE BLUE LIKE AN EVENING SKY \ AFTER THE SETTING SUN OF A DAY \ AN ERA \ BLUE LIKE EYES \ BUT DUWAMISH EYES? \\ PART OF THE CREEK CONNECTING THE LAKES HAS BEEN COVERED OVER \ UNDER ASPHALT \ STRAIGHTENED \ REROUTED \ REDIRECTED FOR NEW REASONS \ COMMERCIAL REASONS \ INTO A LARGE METAL PIPE \\ LARSEN IS NOT A DUWAMISH NAME \\ BELLEVUE WETLANDS FLOW TO LARSEN LAKE AND ON TO LAKE WASHINGTON \ SINCE 1894, ALL KINDS OF REROUTING OF WATERWAYS HAS HAPPENED FOR AGRICULTURE AND OTHER LAND USE \ ANYWAY, SOMEONE DROPPED CUTE RED CRAYFISH INTO A BELLEVUE WATERWAY FOR FISHING \ OR SOME REASON \ I FOUND A CUTE FIERCE RED CRAYFISH ON THE TRAIL AROUND LARSEN LAKE \ I READ ABOUT THEM ONLINE A FEW YEARS AGO \ RED SWAMP CRAYFISH \ YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO KILL THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE INVASIVE AND OUTCOMPETE THE NATIVE BROWN CRAYFISH \\ DUWAMISH PEOPLE CATCH NATIVE CRAYFISH AND FRESHWATER MUSSELS FOR FOOD \\
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