Carlos Reyes

Mere Shelters

—Upper Kalskag, Alaska 1988

Like the first shack I lived in
when coming West

this log cabin in the far north
designed by Russian priests

has no plumbing no central heat.
A single bulb hangs over us,

brings light on shortest days.
Its sound roof keeps us dry.

Song of the Repentant Handyman

What is it, this constant
dream of shipwrecked,
poorly repaired houses.

Lost again in a city I refuse
to own, where dim
silhouettes of houses whose

roofs still leak, slide down
into the water taking me
with them in dreams.

Lost dreams of escape
from hidden secrets
take me past homes

I repaired and sold.
Not wanting to face
shabby renovation jobs
I drive on, lost
in my last futile attempt
to circumvent ram-
shackle camps
in neighborhoods I avoid.
I take the wrong ramp

and am returned
to the center of a rotting
metropolis, drawn

to where my favorite taverns
have long since gone
to sleep without me.

Noted poet and translator, Carlos Reyes is the author of several poetry collections, including
Before the Blue Hour, Into the Journey’s Eye: Selected Poems, Choice from Two Pockets and
Poemas de amor y locura / Poems of Love and Madness. He is also the author of the
memoir, The Keys to the Cottage, Stories from the West of Ireland. He travels widely but his
home base is Portland, Oregon.