poetry


crossen

Fire Season
- rebecca sobin

awoke to a heavy-lidded, dream state
misty grey-
white clouds
laden with
wet
sodden
crystals
enveloping the Bridgers
Beartooths
Absorakas

fog rolls off mountains dropping leaves of gold
orange
& red
in the thick woods above town
damp trees
damp earth
dampened fires we pray and search
darkened
skies
for smoke or more rain

not ready for summer to end ~ not willing to wish it stay
and
risk the wrath of past years of suppression
and
the drought that is ever with us but especially
in
late
summer

earlier in fire season
(since it comes almost
every year it must be
its own season)
i saw a golden eagle in my tree
an escapee
as it was the
first and last visitation

the smoke above emigrant peak made fishing the yellowstone
a hard task flying and breathing
the only thing
to do

still we survive
the fires keep coming year
after
year
and like the eagle
we do what we
know how we seek solace in the mountains
of Montana

and wake to heavy-
lidded mornings
that

signal the end of summer

Rebecca Sobin is an acupuncturist, poet, and mother of three. She resides in Livingston, Montana with her partner Rick, son Logan, and their dogs, Etta and Fiona. Rebecca began writing poetry in earnest last summer and weaves her relationship to love, life, the natural world throughout her work.