rosh hashanah

By equinox, Orion's high and bright
reminding us it's time to sharpen skis.
Free calendar republished night by night
for those mistrustful of technologies.
The StarLink constellation's something new;
Koheleth scowls, but nothing's to be done.
Illuminated just before dawn's due
Aloft, but plainly well beneath the sun.
Few city dwellers ever get to know
that Nature can't be bounded in a park.
Bedazzled by the artificial glow
they lose the wonderment of primal Dark.
A glimpse of sky sets poets' minds ablaze
as much at night as on the bluest days.

Heat Dome

half idaho's ablaze; its filth's spewed wide;
particulates too small to settle down
from Puget Sound to Continent's Divide
paint skies like Mordor's many shades of brown.
All outdoor sports events must be deferred;
asthmatics struggle for their every breath.
A year of pulmonary wear's incurred
for every week we're casting dice with Death.
Each photon intercepted overhead
destroys the lapse-rate soaring pilots love.
Black-body shifted down to bleary red
the atmosphere's still warmed, but from above.
Grim legacy from when the West was cool/\
presents a terrifying pool of fuel.

New Normal

the EastBay's not inured to heat and smog
that withers plants on Torrance windowsills.
Here, Summer's moderated by the fog
that shoots the Gate to curl against the hills.
It's when the wind swing East that Hell breaks loose;
the Breath of Mordor roars down that terrain
those gracious homes can roast you like a goose
when eucalyptus blossom into flame.
In places no one lived before A/C,
a blackout could prove lethal pretty soon.
A forest pool, or just a verdant tree
is worth your life on such an afternoon.
John Wesley Powell pre-viewed what's to come,
but never dreamt home buyers'd be so dumb.