Autumn in California

By Ama Birch

 

Leaves failing.

Falling.

Failing.

Falling.

Hit the ground.

Swirls:

White pollen engulfs me.

 

I read a book on the path

Children playing baseball.

Women at the salon.

 

Kick stone.

Rock Path.

Move bush.

Forward.

 

Curved clouds emerge.

Behind the scarlet moon.

Yellow leaves.

Twisting thing: the wind.

 

A naked woman

Snakes drawn on her body.

A window passes light.

Ra on her back.

A gun on her side.

The artist draws

Marking her skin

Broad, bold;

Lines intersecting.

The photographer snaps

pictures of Arthur Ashe’s

Reflection in the mirror.

Giggles from smokers

Watching the artist working.

Light passes through the window.

 

An arrow speckled

with gold

cuts across her back.

Her nipples glisten

in the light

of the night.

 

Seaweed!

Seaweed!

The Pacific calls.

 

Skinny Dippers

bathe in moonlight.

 

Whirlpools.

Smoke rings drift to the sky.

 

October 31 2010