Saturday, March 28, 2020

Incident in Corona del Mar-tial Law

The isolation mansions quiver in fear
Salt air
The sea offers no answers
From every window

They are coming still
To the far side of these hills
Enmeshed with cactus
To suggest fear

Such a thing can't possibly exist
Here in this rarefied air
With cottontails safe in the green
And wildflowers free in their thinking

There are only bees and streams
Grackles and crickets
And the low drone of hikers
Pontificating on what they've earned

No threat to the distant Spanish castles
That glisten in the sun
It would seem
But there it is

The threat the illusion poses
Can't be ghosted
By the brushes
Of the palms

For there is madness
Wherever boards can't be bolted
Being too close to someone else
Might expose you to their truth

Back down the hill
The bees are terrifying
Even to those who wear
The latest stylish masks