Flames
Red hot pokers thrust flaming fingers
from acacia thickets, gesture toward
gaunt cypress, streaky sky, glittering cove.
Morning too bright, brilliance
that blasts, then overwhelms.
Unseasonal sunshine drags on and on.
I need shaded trails across secret rivers,
ocean breezes, cool relief,
an afternoon of atmospheric unknowns.
Red hot pokers thrust flaming fingers
from acacia thickets, gesture toward
gaunt cypress, streaky sky, glittering cove.
Morning too bright, brilliance
that blasts, then overwhelms.
Unseasonal sunshine drags on and on.
I need shaded trails across secret rivers,
ocean breezes, cool relief,
an afternoon of atmospheric unknowns.
Signs
Gravity flings burnished surf against golden sand.
Full moon agitates freaky winter’s king tides.
Clouds arrange themselves into mist vertebrate,
float like skeletons of vanished fish above rising sun.
Storms to the north leave faux summer unscathed.
I pause beneath streaked sky, feel unseasonal warmth.
Riled sea breaks over granite boulders.
Rumor of diverted squall hypnotizes, enthralls.
Wind propels strings of smirking pelicans
across spindrift-stripped, turquoise pulse.
I am restless, weary of bright weather,
parched coastline, four years of drought.
Gravity flings burnished surf against golden sand.
Full moon agitates freaky winter’s king tides.
Clouds arrange themselves into mist vertebrate,
float like skeletons of vanished fish above rising sun.
Storms to the north leave faux summer unscathed.
I pause beneath streaked sky, feel unseasonal warmth.
Riled sea breaks over granite boulders.
Rumor of diverted squall hypnotizes, enthralls.
Wind propels strings of smirking pelicans
across spindrift-stripped, turquoise pulse.
I am restless, weary of bright weather,
parched coastline, four years of drought.
Pink Sky Over Wetlands
Chill pre-sunrise hour--blushing horizon backlights
slanting cat tails, twisted cypress,
subtle curve of cold, lavender dunes.
Raccoons return to dens as a hidden owl hoots.
Wild geese squat along wetland mud flats.
Ducks protectively hunker over clandestine nests.
I pause upon silent, sage-congested knoll.
Contemplate a swollen moon as it fades
to ghostly host, floats above sleeping roofs.
Jennifer Lagier has published nine poetry books and in multiple literary magazines. She taught with California Poets in the Schools and is now a retired college librarian/instructor, member of the Italian American Writers Association, co-edits the Homestead Review, helps coordinate monthly Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium Second Sunday readings. Website: http://jlagier.net
Chill pre-sunrise hour--blushing horizon backlights
slanting cat tails, twisted cypress,
subtle curve of cold, lavender dunes.
Raccoons return to dens as a hidden owl hoots.
Wild geese squat along wetland mud flats.
Ducks protectively hunker over clandestine nests.
I pause upon silent, sage-congested knoll.
Contemplate a swollen moon as it fades
to ghostly host, floats above sleeping roofs.
Jennifer Lagier has published nine poetry books and in multiple literary magazines. She taught with California Poets in the Schools and is now a retired college librarian/instructor, member of the Italian American Writers Association, co-edits the Homestead Review, helps coordinate monthly Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium Second Sunday readings. Website: http://jlagier.net
