Roots of Diesel

Originally featured in an outdoor art exhibit, "Connection to Land," hosted by Agroforestry Northwest, at Raising Cane Ranch in Snohomish, WA (Sep. 2025). It is also the newest version of my poem originally entitled, My Roots Smell Like Diesel. 

Roots of Diesel

the diesel engine rumbles awake
disturbs the dew
on leaves of pasture
 
wakes me
roots me
 
this start is expected early
6 sometimes 7
days a week 

the engine idles and warms
prepares
 
for a day of hard work
down the logging roads
up the clear cuts ablaze with
sunrises and sunsets
 
the weight of first gear on the gravel drive
his boot heavy on the gas pedal
 
the log truck jerks and starts
as it grumbles towards the road
 
“Another day at the salt mines,”
dad mutters to himself with a sarcastic grin
pulling on another Hickory
 
another day working
to warm the home
to stoke the fire
 
not just a job
but a way of life
 
to this day
the smell of diesel
takes me back 
 
to my roots
that lumber and wakes me
reminds me reminds me