And just like that, it was gone...

Farewell to these sandstone hills, full of jasper and agates, Farewell to these statuesque rocks caressed by the tides, Farewell to these Sitka Spruces, shaped by the storms, Farewell to Seal Rock, Ona Beach, and Newport, Crossing the Newport Bridge, I watched a trawler heading for the open ocean, My heart drifting in its wake, like a net into the sea, and as we climbed the hills into Toledo, I saw the Pacific Ocean, looking back at me, What utter finality, the solemn slate grey sea, Looking back in my rearview mirror, the day that we left, I still remember the suddenness of the clear blue sky, The golden light of the sun glinting on the waves The hope cresting as I drove out of the hills, Now recedes, and fades away