Ceanothus

See and know this Ceanothus!How she brags as the bees delightSpreading her limbs, she curtsies,too impish to be polite”Whether wending or wandering,I cannot be wrong, Spring!”she laughs as she dances,perfuming the night”But how the days grow perpetually,”she yawns under Summer sunNow fickle Fall courts tempestuously,her blury-heart far from wonExhausted in dry earth, beaten by windwaiting … Read more

Poison Oak

they named me before they knewlittle more than thistwisted in vineI am boundary made fleshwill you sit with me, earth-tromperand staylift my skirtsand seethese oft-sleeping babes:wood rats and thrushesthroats thrumming—left baremy berries like bells—chandelier over headssanctuary, gleaming greenwhere the walls can be eatenthe tenderest of endsnot charitybut compassiona settingas much cradle as gravewill you sit … Read more