Of itself, and thus, of others.
The cordgrass is submerged
But sea lavender extends in red
Along the archipelagos of the wetlands
As the endless estuary
Rolls in its radio waves to sway
The mulefat willows
And the sun descends its mirror
On the water within
The shoals where clapper rawls and avocels,
Least terns, sanderlings and curlews roost.
On the dunes, tarplant and primrose spill their nets
And the goldenbush is in flower,
Salt cedar and pickleweed thrive, with the pervasive
Coastal sage in tangled tufts,
And on the bluffs, buckwheat and beach bur,
Woolly heads and witches hair cling to life,
Coyote bush full of creamy fuzz gesticulating wildly.
Today's miracle is in progress now before us.
The brush strokes of cloud turn pink.
Saddleback rises in violet.
A crane hides in the deepening green,
Turning blue as the water
As colors overwhelm the oil jennies plunging,
The headlights streaming, shirts flying,
Copters circling, masks passing. Blue clouds
Swag on one side as the sun squeezes through
The purple moment. Even the two pelican islands
Are indigo in a vast pink field.
The waters are like blood beneath the sprouts in shadow.
The grebe's white wings lift into the night,
As unaware as we are that the stripes of nobility
We can't see in ourselves
Are stilled in streaks across the sky, holding
To a more heroic hue, richer than any red.
