from my living room window, above my lilac’s purple blooms and between the welcome spread of a pair of oaks, a snow-capped mountain like a whipped dessert, is the view I lick, while below and surrounding me lies the burned carcasses of homes with gravestones of chimneys I live untouched, inside an ashen oasis of death, lonely for noise - two dogs barking at each other a loud late-night pool party the squeal of someone else’s brakes a sneeze that’s not mine the mockingbird’s

scratching for not just any old stone but the one that matches a perfect bouquet of flowers, the raven chooses his gift from the display in the sand and drops it at her ankles her turn to examine it and gurgle a slightly embarrassed thank you before they fly off to enjoy a nice dinner, or maybe skip the formalities and find an open-air motel and get busy banging feathers

Oh, girl on a swing, soar into your sparkling day. I notice the algae in the pool needs shocking. I’ve declined my own treatment, though I’ll attack the enemies of my peaceful garden for all the little murders below. In this latter-day jungle, a predator feasts on me while a psychopath lurked in my family tree. He had too good of a run. And watch out for my stargazer lilies. A spectacular and lethal beauty. At Wellness Park I share my grief and he, his. Hey, the park promise