Walking Along La Playa

Crows standing in a line.
Moss on the North side --
the monkey puzzle tree breathes

a sigh of relief.  They seem
further away than they are.
Each among the murder

ducks his head in turn.
One flaps his wings, caws
and is gone in the time

it takes to hum two bars from a pop song.
Another alights on the bare branch
of a bent and otherwise lush jade plant.

Omen of Life

Chaparral-adorned hills recline like an odalisque.
The horizon rises three
fingers to the sky.

Hot, dry sandstone keeps its own
counsel as the interrogatory
sun beats it.  One

vulture interlopes.  Descry
what you like or hope
from its flapping, black shape --

the bird's lack of company
signals that it meets another's fate
far, far away.

Indian Valley, March 11th

Golden poppies unlock.
__________Sunrise
livestock --
_____Heresford --
graze along a violet and green
_____hillside;

they move seldom.

Scattered rain clouds above
__________tell lies:
Outline
_____simple truth
until the sky purples to mean
_____twilight.

Poppies twist closed.

Ladoga

Black walnut trees overhang the creek.
The nearest bank is choked with blackberry

bushes.  To seek and to hide,
that one might arrive

dry just by threading between raindrops --
my Thermopylae

is the gravel crunch underfoot.
Soot from a brush fire on a lone, weathered boot.

Bear Valley

Larkspur, violets, and golden poppies
litter a field that runs up
to mountains.

A drowsy bumblebee
weaves around me.
I stand facing East,

my hand shielding my eyes
from the morning sun.
There is no wind --

unusual for the month of March.
My shadow starts
behind my heels.

Halo

Winter-stunned,
the blind sun
encircled by ice;

it shines not to see
but to be seen
by rogue and saint alike.

Each damp face
upturned and served
with warmth, every one.

Lett's Lake

The water has a mirror finish;
it reflects dark green pines.

So many times we walked around
looking for the best spot for rainbow trout.

A silver-hulled boat glides by;
the man in it rows with a silent nod.