rdking.net
Collected Poetry
(rd king dot net)poetry and digital art
The Big Picture
Groups of short poems.
In Autumn in California
1: Near Malibu The red and yellow sun sat upon a power pole. Weakly, the naked hills erode onto the highway. The bay, having gone flat, left some sun-worn surfers to loiter the sandy parking lot. The red and yellow sun sat upon a power pole. Weakly, the naked hills erode onto the highway. The bay, having gone flat, left some sun-worn surfers to loiter the sandy parking lot. 2: Down in Monterey On rocky cliffs some young men had removed their shirts to sun; joggers shared the skinny bike path. Six slim boats sat upon the bay; yellow iceplant spread the bluffs while kites climbed the pushy wind. 3: October In the luminous evening light, little finches found the tallest summer weeds and bent them until their seeds spilt among the zinnias whose blooms were now hampered by the night air, having gone from bold brightness to cool pastel. 4: Marin A camphor smell slips away from the wistful eucalyptus. Everywhere little houses cling to the hillsides. Lanterns sway upon the decks. Bubbles. Bubbles well up, and some from the glass stem—how lovely your wife is leaving our little tub. 5: Near Big Sur Covered only with brush, the mountains ran down to the water in steep gradients and the sea bit back at the rock and the yellow sandstone, thus keeping its share of the earth flat and supplicant. 6: Mono Big, big paws knelt before the water. Birds stood in repose, the water lapping. It was an old happiness, awe, standing in the presence of Mono Lake. 7: Highway 33 Light that fell through the nut orchard was broken. It strobed across the road and our car. It made utility pole shadows long. The tilled fields would have been brilliant if brown could be brilliant; in the low distance nut orchards rose up in clusters of close fans. 8: Orr Creek Is it just light that washes across this morning landscape and brightens my daughter's face: I see the glass cowpond, the dead-brown pastures, the very yellow trees. back | ToC | next
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