TELL YOU WHAT

Woodblock Print by Annie Bissett

Tell you what, the air aloft is falling.
Here it is, October, November, people
on the mountain speak again about
hydraulic jumps and fires. The power is

already down. Personally, I’m on
the wharf in Santa Cruz, but even so
I’m listening for downslope winds beginning
high before descending in a sinking

train of music aiming overland
and tumbling toward me on the coast. I take
a lung-full in, sampling for smoke
arriving from Sonoma. All of us

are breathing it. If I were to die
and then return to earth as horses, running
with the speed of money, I would fly
the flames behind me flaring into canyons,

sweeping through the prehistoric fuels
and towns to overtake the traffic trapped
on chains of roads as conifers exploded
overhead. Are they beautiful,

these evergreens ringed in elemental
force? Wreathed demonically? A problem
I will leave unsolved. If I chose
a bird, I’d be a phoenix to come out

alive and recognized on thermals rising
over vineyards and incendiary
homes. Really, I’d be chasing safety
same as residents evacuating

underneath the haze and rain of ash
to reach as refugees the temporary
camps popping up, and populating
open spaces. Lanterns sparkle here

and there. Someone lucky saved his ass
when chaos drafted every buoyant
movable alive, and separated
friends and families. Circumstances

fly apart so fast. Fathers on
their dying phones are calling children still
on route. Sisters hold out hopes for detours
full of serious grace, which I’m here

to say are unattainable in country
currently alight, and commonly
reset in violent conflagration. Such
derision drives us all to ground.

Author: Brad Crenshaw

I am a poet and literary critic. I have published four books of poetry: 'Chased by Lunacies and Wonders', 'Memphis Shoals', 'Genealogies', and 'My Gargantuan Desire.' The first book on this list, 'Chased by Lunacies and Wonders', won the 2023 Catamaran Poetry Prize, and can be purchased by using this link: https://catamaranliteraryreader.com/subscribe-donate/chased-by-lunacies-and-wonders The book is also available on Amazon. The other three books on the list are published by Greenhouse Review Press, and are also available on Amazon. I have published two chapbooks as well: 'Limits of Resurrection', and 'Propagandas'. I have worked as a neuropsychologist for many years in a New England tertiary care medical center, and in the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services. 'Medical Life' reflects my encounters with people who have had neurological insults of various sorts, and the problems that result. When I am not writing, or working, I'll be out in my ocean kayak in either the Pacific or Atlantic Oceans. The unconstructed world. View all posts by Brad Crenshaw