Poetry

California (3/7/23)

The sun seeps in
Bringing warmth
To a body
Gone cold

Alien environment
Lemon tree
Mistaken for an orange
Until too late

Bit into the juicy flesh
Every cell of my body
United in the same thought
Rejection

Instead of friendly maples and oaks
Lending their shade
The landscape is dominated
By caci of all shapes and sizes

Palm trees stand sentinel
Their fronds bursting from the top
Like a sleepy child’s bedhead
Unruly and comical

No sign of lush grassy lawns
Sand rules every landscape
The patches of grass
Struggle to hold on

In the distance
Mountains
Purple giants
With white hats

The absence of blue
Is startling
Lakes, rivers, ponds
Nonexistent

There are bushes filled
With pink flowers
I applaud them for softening
The edges of the drab
How is it that thousands
Call this place home
But the environment feels
So desolate

California desert
Harsh beauty
Unapologetic fight
For survival