Methow Valley

Whisper up the valley

Nudge the branch where the sparrow

Claims a perch

Calm the fretful horse

Tethered to the fence

Soften the sharp scent of flame on wood

Bring twilight on feathered clouds

Drop violet gold over folded hills

Offer dreams to the sleepless

Grant them the river’s joy

Sliding sweetly over rocks

Smoothed by her toil

Long ago

Peony

The peony spreads underground

Those words suggest a movement

Either to build or destory

Both, really

Can’t do one without the other

Unless by building one is

Adding to, not replacing

The image is not political

What is political in nature?

Survival & conquering & besting

Sounds political, if you filter it

Through the lense of human history

Which i’d rather not

Each spring brings more shoots & each

Gives a blossom

The heat dome didn’t ruin it

Nor the foot of snow

A resilient gorgeous plant

Plotting to take over the garden

San Diego County

Slender twisted trunks & flat, fluttery leaves

The eucalypts bend toward the light, as if

The sinking sun would pull them into the sea

Rain so scant the fall of a moment

Brings a glisten & shine to the yucca & jade

Fire passed here

Blackened

Singed

Spared stone mansions

On the ridgetops

Full of light, for now

Each season could be the one to

Hollow out & tear down

Leaving behind shadows & soot

Remarkable, too

In their way

ABOUT:

Anne Leigh Parrish’s next poetry collection, If The Sky Won’t Have Me, will be published in April 2023 by Unsolicited Press. Her next novel, A Summer Morning, arrives in October 2023, also from Unsolicited Press She lives in Olympia, Washington. Visit www.anneleighparrish.com and her new photography website (3 nature photos from Lavinia Studios appeared in the clip above ) www.laviniastudios.com Follow for more updates @AnneLParrish on Twitter and @anneleighparrish on Instagram.

EDITOR'S SONG PAIRING

Aaron Krause - Jade (Mason Self Remix)