Today, wildfire smoke
makes morning light feel old,
weighs the air
with a thousand deaths,
a thousand more.
Today the stream bed is dry,
choked with fallen leaves,
earth cracked deep with thirst.
Dust rises beneath my feet,
settles, coats my skin.
Today grasshoppers rise
by the many, rise
like distracted prayers,
leaping from trail
to tangled underbrush,
snapping open dark wings
veined with gold
then gone
their mystery
defying gravity
rising through smoke
blessing the dust.
The featured image is courtesy of Hamish Weir.
Amy Malskeit is a lover of words and stories and people. She holds an undergraduate degree in English and Spanish, a secondary English teaching credential, and an MA in creative writing with an emphasis in poetry from Lancaster University in Northwest England. Her years teaching middle and high school gave her a love for middle grade and young adult literature, and the awkward awesome that being a young adult means. She is a mother of two who plants her garden and makes her home in the foothills southwest of Denver with her best friend, Kevin. She loves the water, and feels most at home when she is near the Pacific Ocean. She reads broadly, and is passionate about exploring big questions and small moments through her poetry, essays, and stories.
Leave a Reply
A Field Guide to Cultivating ~ Essentials to Cultivating a Whole Life, Rooted in Christ, and Flourishing in Fellowship
Enjoy our gift to you as our Welcome to Cultivating! Discover the purpose of The Cultivating Project, and how you might find a "What, you too?" experience here with this fellowship of makers!
Amy, what a joy to see how your creative life is flourishing! I remember you with great affection.
Amy,
this is wonderful word craft… born, clearly, of your having given yourself to gaze at hard times… while still trusting His grace and holding to His hand.
Respectfully,
Denise
@Luci, what a delight to find you here. I am so thankful for your encouragement. You have been a conduit for Tov in my life. With much affection, Amy
@Denise, thank you for this reflection.