mid-September
the heat the sun
five months, no rain
our dry, dry land
we’re on edge
with threat of fire
my phone
shrills that ding
a real-time app
blaze in our county
thirty miles east
first relief
then shame not
close to us
but endangers
some
with two legs
four legs
wings
Relief...then shame. So true. In 1991, my parents' home in Oakland burned to the ground. When my mom first saw the ruins, she stood there with a smile, "Oh, I am so glad that Mrs. H's house didn't burn! Her daughter is pregnant, you know." I didn't know, but I did see that despite her loss (total)my mother's main emotion was relief for her neighbor.
Fire season midst.
Spared so far, fortunate us.
That is, some of us.