What I Saw on the Drive Home

Scraped clean and clear, the sky shimmered overhead.   

Unseen hands had scooped up the clouds and piled them in white mounds over the eastern mountains.   

Water or....

The highway turned from gray to vibrating mirror in the distance.   

The eucalyptus leaves hung low, weeping in the heat, 

 

while the oak trees hugged the ground tightly.   

Not a single bird or bug tested the hot winds, perhaps waiting for the sun to retreat from its scorching.   

California wildfires

The brown hills invite fire to sweep from east to west, eating up the clouds and the trees. 

 

August, you are such a harsh task-master.