LOVE IN A TIME OF FIRE

LOVE IN A TIME OF FIRE

Some blamed the hot Santanas
while others cursed the Diablo winds.
howling at 75 miles per hour.
Whatever you call it, a maelstrom
devoured Santa Rosa de Lima's namesake.
The city blanketed in a layer of ash
so a friend left red roses on all the cop cars.
What else was there to do in a time of fire?
We became the light in a darkened land.

10.22.17
Forthcoming in Molly Fisk’s Fire and Water poetry anthology 2020