Not a sky but a milk of ash,
more like a low clay dome

over these few houses and cars,
this snippet of road, the near

trees…we’re down to earshot.
Suppose no Jupiter in the south

tonight. No moon. World’s gone
small inside the smoke. Might be

a hope—to know close quarters.
Mosquito’s, pangolin’s, vole’s,

water strider’s—and all this
garden, its ponds, one islet, a dot.

The katsura, a maple, a backyard
sequoia erased in its height…

a squirrel’s circuit. A snail’s
range. Or that golden spider’s

thready oasis between fence posts.
A trapped yellow jacket, wrapped

in a tiny silk storm, suspended
a yard from that late white rose.

 

INSIDE THE SMOKE by Jed Myers

 


 

Photo used under CC.