HEAT

                                                                       

                                                                                               

A walk on the Iron Horse Trail

mid-July in California

dry, hot shade.

On the ground a dozen oak galls,

Bleached to ivory, traces of yellow ochre,

Ink-brown.

Spider web spans the braces of a bridge

Over a creek bed, no water tumbling through

Even the web looks dry.

                                                                                   
                                                                                    Buzz saws instead of running water,

                                                                                    Two 70-year old pines coming down.

                                                                                    Broken skeleton of a vine

                                                                                    Clinging to a chain-linked fence

                                                                                    In the distant haze, Mt. Diablo,

                                                                                    Yellow and fire-crisp.

 Iron Horse Trail
 In the heat of July -

 California’s winter:

 Only yellow and red cherries

 Burst with life.