Wiregrass, Bluestem, Indian Grass, Palmetto, Ferns, Wildflowers, Blackberry, Gallberry, Longleaf Pine, the Sweep of Fire
i.
Awhile, I stood beside some land I burned
and heard fire’s sound.
Beneath the pines, gallberry crackled black
where fire gleamed.
I closed my eyes and recognized the sound
seemed heavy rain.
By the firebreak, my eyes closed as
pines dreamed me there.
ii.
Dark’s depths of fireflies and stars will blink,
sparking through sleep.
In night’s deep trance, Shiva will shiver bright
as shimmer’s dance.
Dark sees his shape twist, ripple, pour, veer, glare,
flare, rear, devour.
Stars follow stars into the starless night,
in dreamlessness.
iii.
Through fleeting quests and meaninglessness,
days blaze a line.
Beneath the pines, I bore the driptorch down
the scar of earth.
I walked the firebreak and heard flames call
as rain’s loud fall.
When grasses sprouted back from blackened earth,
pines dreamed my path.
