Lost and Found

—Photo by Katy Brown

The ring of fire hung in the sky

as if the god of omens tossed a fiery quoit
into a stand of pines;

as if Shiva lost a bracelet dancing
among the stars;

as if a monster-slayer devoured an eye
of the demon who dwells in the sun;

as if any myth that tells of this
is more fantastic than the truth . . . .

—Katy Brown, Davis

_________________________

STRANGE LIGHT
—Katy Brown

The rapid fall of light
and confusion of a flying crow:
confirmation of dramatic change—

a perfect place to watch the eclipse
here at the bottom of a lost ravine.
I’m here to photograph the moon

swallowing the sun
in this other-worldly glow—
and my mind turns to annihilation.

No one knows where to look
if I don’t come back.
The world is getting cold and still

with the dark growing all around.
Science tells me facts
about the shadow-world forming here.

Yet, a chill and sudden dark—
the quiet in the woods around me—
 

 —Photo by Katy Brown

EXPLOSIVE

—Taylor Graham, Placerville

5:06 a.m. The bed shakes.

Shards of light

through the screens. Something

hits my elbow. Sharp

edge of tooth or claw. Cold

against my neck, heavy breathing.

All night her heart's

been ticking. 5:

07, It's time! Loki says

in Dog. Dawn shape-shifting

sleep to ignition.

Debris of dreams and dinner,

yesterday's dull

lessons. Time, bright trickster

in disguise

of a sable puppy. Grenade

under my pillow,

a neon-green ball. Loki's live

and set for Wednesday.

_______________________

THE LOOP

—Taylor Graham

Follow a trail of apricot pits, cellophane

wrappers, gas receipts—up rough stone

steps like a ladder to the clouds, or at least

a view worth climbing for. Cascades of

snowmelt whipped into misty foam, the

current carrying hikers' litter down to sea.

Everything's connected. At a junction,

pumpkin-orange traffic cone, a white-

washed sign: DANGER—EXPLOSIVES.

No fast food on this trail, not even a slow

hot meal. But tectonic plates are shifting

under the mountain. Was that Earth's last

water going over the falls?

_______________________

HOW MAGIC WORKS

—Taylor Graham

A garden of real toads, yet green

as an enchanted emerald seen

through tinted glasses—why should I

put down my tools, just let them lie, and sit between

the gate and dripping faucet? Look,

here's a toad actual as a book

of wonders. Hungry bugs beware

this warty hunter in his lair; his tongue's a hook,

and nothing's simple as it seems

on a spring morning. Sunlight streams

fermenting on the compost heap

where old squash rots and microbes leap to gardeners' 
                                              dreams.

Taylor Graham has a treat for her veteran

search-and-rescue dog, Cowboy.

—Photo by Katy Brown

WAITING TO BE FOUND

—Katy Brown
 
I’ve marked a winding path through weeping pines,
giant redwoods, and owl clover― my latest
coiling track through twisting choices.

Especially as I scramble down the steep hillside―
slipping on rolling pebbles, slick as ball-bearings―
I know the way home demands a hard uphill climb.

I’ve come through nutmeg trees and sugar pines,
through cedars that thrive on this hillside
and skeletons of trees, bare as spinal cords.

I’ve circled back to nearly where I started
and wait on a little stone bridge.
Today, I’m trying to get lost;

pretending to be turned around,
I lay a trail for rescue dogs.
Today, I will be found.
 

______________________

COWBOY AND GINA AND LOKI

—Katy Brown

Loki chases rainbows on the lawn,
snapping at mist, digging for spray―
a kindergartener among the graduates.

There is nothing like a sprinkler
to cheer a puppy who’d been left behind.
First Cowboy, then Gina trot from the parking lot

following a phantom of scent
lingering between the pines.
To Loki in her crate, it was a snub.

Cowboy and Gina already know
to trust the trail they find in the air;
to track that scent wherever it goes―

Loki will learn to trust her nose
in a game of dash-and-cover
when everyone’s back.

A young search-dog’s game
of hide-and-seek: basic
as the alphabet song.

 Loki in sprinkler

—Photo by Katy Brown

____________________

Thanks to Taylor Graham and Katy Brown for whipping up a Kitchen full of delights today! Katy has been out and about lately, and she brings back fine poems and photos of her adventures: a trip to be a "victim" for El Dorado Search and Rescue dogs Cowboy, Gina and trainee Loki's practice; a spontaneous ride up to Whiskytown (above Redding) to view the solar eclipse on Sunday; and a photo safari to Sacramento's newly-refurbished McKinley Park Rose Garden with Annie Menebroker and Kathy Kieth on Monday. For more of her delicious photos, see the new photo "album" on Medusa's Facebook page.

______________________

Today's LittleNip:

DUST OF DAYDREAMS

—Taylor Graham

Bottle-green

shade with birdsong in between

fanned leaves, fanning feathers' breeze

through deep trees, the dim unseen.

______________________

—Medusa

 Resident heron in McKinley Park

—Photo by Katy Brown