Pagosa Springs Artists

After the Storm

 

After every storm
I walk our property,
surveying for tree
damage.  Hitching
the riding mower
to a cart, I load up
craggy walnut limbs,
leafy branches of
pin oak, soft brushes
of pine, moving them
to a stack at the back
of our country lot.  Add
the occasional woven
nest lined with birdsilk.

All spring and summer
the pile grows higher until
one crisp day in October
I gather our grandchildren
as Grandpa starts the bonfire
by throwing out a bottle
of gasoline, the fireball
lighting up the cold night
to a cacophony of screaming
fear and delight, imaginary
gremlins and dragons hissing
and writhing in the glaring firelight.

first published in Bellowing Ark

 

 

first published in Bellowing Ark

also published in Illinois State Poetry Society 

also published in FLOOR OF THE SKY Chapbook

©2010 Bonnie Manion

   

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