We saw them trimming the grass
with their little goat teeth,
man and dog keeping watch
there on the highway verge.
 
It was California, where trends
take hold—California, where now
herds of goats are the latest
weapon against wildfires.
 
Rent-a-Ruminate they’ve been
called for years—four-legged
weedwhackers who’ll clear
your land of invasive plants.
 
Curious, intelligent, agile beasts,
they’ll rear up and nibble
on trees, all the while smirking
sideways, slit-eyed.
 
Let them come, those clever capras.
Let them eat the brush and fertilize
the fields while they’re at it.
Let the futile flames retreat.