Grandfather Eucalyptus

Anza Borega
—Poems by Carol Louise Moon, Placerville, CA
—Photos by Chris Moon, Jacksonville, FL

PINE CONES

Riding the Amtrak rails south
she is in search of something afield,
but not so much bales of cotton.
These bales, covered in blue tarp,
are not the country view of her
Northern California.  Is there
something familiar along the way? 
Farther south she detrains, visits
her uncle and sees his pride of
ownership.  Right there, in his urban
yard of less than an acre, sits
a gorgeous reminder of home—
a Ponderosa Pine.  And scattered
all around, sturdy pine cones—
reward for her travels.

        garnet pine cones
        abundance signals
        victory over drought

 Carolina Winter

EUCALYPTUS IN THE VALLEY

Eucalyptus...  the old man.
The old man...  eucalyptus.
I can’t make up my mind.
Look at the shape of him.
What do you see,
eucalyptus...  or an old man? 
Well, of course, you see
a eucalyptus!  What else
do you see?  Can’t you see
an old man in the shape
of it?  (Not the old man
in the field!)

Let’s walk farther away. 
Now look.
Let’s walk up closer. 
Now?

Now, smell him.  He
smells nice in the arm pits,
doesn’t he?  Just like my
grandfather.  I’m gonna
call this tree
Grandfather Eucalyptus.    

 View of Anza Borega from Julian, California

VALLEY GIANT

That hillside here in the
valley with soil erosion
looks like the Giant gouged
it out with four fingers,
quite unhappy with
the crop-dusting planes.

That last go-round
got him so choked up with
crop dust, plus tripping on
a whole stack of irrigation
pipes sent him landing the
valley down ten feet deeper.

You can see where the farmers
have dragged his body away,
and that last rain has left a
shallow lake.

 Vineyard, Templeton, California

SALINAS VALLEY PATCHWORK

These vetchers did such a
good job with their straight
lines and little fence posts
sticking up.

And the vintners have strung
narrow black plastic piping
and wires that run in straight
lines.

Very young vine plants sit
patiently in rows waiting
for water to sprinkle on
them while the sun shines.

A lovely Salinas Valley
patchwork quilt with browns
and greens and little white
patches all sewn together
can be seen from this small
airplane.

A whole mess of crows flying
over looks like someone
peppering a king-sized quilt
with ground-up pepper corns. 
But...  I don’t know why
someone would do that.

 Badlands of South Dakota

REMEMBERING LUZ

Tío Juan keeps to himself since his
wife Luz passed on.  You are prickly
like a pine cone, I tell him.  Eventually
you’ll have no visitors, no one
to comfort you. Tío...  ¡Tú no tendrás
a nadie! I warn him.  Lighten up, Tío,
it’s been ten years.  You know death
was her cure for cancer.  We spend
the afternoon gilding pine cones
for the senior center, then break
for lunch, eating Luz’s favorite tortilla
recipe.  Es sabroso, Tío.  She lives on
in our cooking.

        bowl of masa balls
        flattened, toasted on
        hot comal—Luz is shining

 Dixie Valley, Nevada

Today’s LittleNip:

THE VALLEY EXPRESS

—Carol Louise Moon

Trees dash by, and grapevines
sneak under telephone wires
in this greening valley.  Small
houses slowly turn.  Wooden
fences march, then fall behind.
Little blackbirds flap out
within this dizzying view.

It’s time for us to nestle
into padded recline, close
our eyes, and let this train
rock us to sleep.

___________________

Our thanks to Carol Louise Moon and her photographer brother, Chris Moon, for their tales and pictures, words and visuals!

For upcoming poetry readings and workshops available online while we stay at home, scroll down to the blue column (under the green column at the right) for info—and note that more may be added at the last minute.

—Medusa

 California Zephyr

—Public Domain Photo

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