Steam, not Smoke
Now the rains have come
and there’s’ no threat of wildfire
for another year, at least, provided
they stay.
May the rains stay.
Coffee cup in hand, I linger over the steam
rising from my reflection-in-brown,
and breathe deep —
Now I can greet a sharp bite
in my nostrils
first thing in the hazy morning
without checking on the waist-high tawny grasses
waving from the hills beyond
my kitchen window.
1994
Copyright © 2017 by Kay Lorraine – All Rights Reserved

From Depth Perception – Selected Poems by Kay Lorraine