xxxxxxx.

the shards fall
into the sage,

among the brittle
twigs,

the dust, and night
settle, the wire,

sunders the hillside
the sun sinks,

from the line,
the hawk flies

shadow falls across
the lower slopes

and into the valley
over the freeway

the glow wells over
the peaks, the

streams over the houses

sets the wash ablaze

xxxxxxviii.

the silence--if
rose, softened in the dark

the sharp crack, the wind
in the succulents,

hiss and fall, the spray
held in the air, if

the gravel held, momentarily,
sloped and snaked,

and the cliffs sharp, the moon
bright,

between, leading down,
the road still--

the dawn rise slow, the
shuddering leaves