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.

antiscorbutic

In riotous profusion by the trail,
their weight bears skinny branches down to earth.
In Huckleberry season, bring a pail!
Those jams are worth your life in months of dearth.
Diseases that bedeviled us through time,
attributed to deities enraged,
until the Royal Navy found the lime,
few sailors lived  to reach robust old age.
Exacerbating all, they kept pet cats
to guard their precious biscuits while at sea.
In ignorance that--unlike Man--those rats
can synthesize their own vitamin 'C'.
The summer hillside flush with fleeting wealth
Can cannily be canned for lasting health.

summer storm

Coy virga leave the ground unsatisfied
it's hot, thick breath's been wasted on thin air
the gust-front kicks around what laid there, dried
but all its moisture's carried off, elsewhere.
The desert flora specialize in dearth,
but every year or two, still need a storm
delivering redemption to the Earth
in places where to desiccate's the norm.
Bright scarves of rain, dark veils of steel-grey sleet
with thunder syncopating melodies
still leave this courtship dangling, incomplete
nine times in ten, it's just a dry-run tease.
When wadis gush, and grabens inundate
each Blue Moon sees this drama consummate.