WILDFIRE

Peter said the wildflowers
outdid themselves this spring
with a firestorm of petals
bursting into riotous flame.

Odor of smoke trapped in toyon & oak
makes the natives restless.
Memory of flame, soot and ash—
a wildfire too recent for poetic fodder.

Only the woodpecker laughs,
his tiny crest, an ember
catches the eye unaware.


9/2009 La Casa de Maria, Santa Barbara
rev 7/13