Thursday, October 01, 2020

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.