Douglas Cole

Cape Blanco

 
The disappearing shore and the disappearing man-
I realize I'm becoming the engine that I drive,
and the road narrows down until no road at all,
just a dirt trail through a black pine grove,
to the disappearing shore where the waves roll
and distance is a white flare from the edge
then gone with a grey mist sliding in
obliterating everything except for one lighthouse
stabbing a fierce light out for wandering souls
and seabirds cruising in from the sea.

Douglas Cole has published six poetry collections and the novel The White Field, winner of the American Fiction Award. His work has been anthologized in Best New Writing (Hopewell Publications), Bully Anthology (Kentucky Stories Press) and Coming Off The Line (Main Street Rag Publishing). He is a regular contributor to Mythaxis, providing essays and interviews with notable writers, artists, and musicians. He also writes a monthly piece called “Trading Fours” for Jerry Jazz Musician and was recently named the editor for “American Poetry” in Read Carpet, an international, multi-lingual journal from Columbia. In addition to the American Fiction Award, he was awarded the Leslie Hunt Memorial prize in poetry, the Editors’ Choice Award for fiction by RiverSedge, and has been nominated three time for a Pushcart and Best of the Net. He lives and teaches in Seattle, Washington. His website is https://douglastcole.com/.