ASH

by Katrinka Moore

Smoke rises over a vineyard as the Glass Fire burns. Calistoga, CA, September 28, 2020. Credit: Noah Berger/AP via The Washington Post, September 30, 2020.

Slow-dying ash    still mostly

thick and green    though now                        

the leaves are yellowing                                 

 

The high bare limbs     a haunt

of choice for goldfinches    who

facing east     warble as the sun

 

appears     a deep red sphere    

crosses the sky shrouded

in haze     Come night                        

 

the stars and even Jupiter

are dim     Three thousand

miles away     wildfires

 

rage another morning     Here   

bright singing birds    the glow

of early     color-shifting     fall

Katrinka Moore's latest book is Wayfarers. She lives in Schoharie County, NY.