In order to view this poem with the line breaks the author intended, we suggest reading it on a computer screen or in the landscape orientation on your phone or tablet.

Wildfire Season, 2021
Mark Thalman

Smoke shrouds mountains
and hovers like fog.

Sunlight bleeds
amber across the floor.

If the wind is from the south, we breathe
Sequoias and Redwoods.

If it is from the east, we inhale
habitat from the Cascades.

From the north,
winds carry British Columbia.

In Oregon, 40,000 have evacuated
to escape seven major fires.

Visibility: 100 yards.
Air quality index: extremely hazardous.

Five times worse
than Beijing or New Delhi.

Allergic to smoke, I stay inside —
Avoid migraines pounding nails in my head.

My neighbor sits in his backyard
smoking a cigar.

—
Mark Thalman is the author of Stronger Than the Current, The Peasant Dance, and Catching the Limit. His work has been widely published for four and a half decades. His poems have appeared in Paterson Review, The MacGuffin, Pedestal Magazine, and Valparaiso Review. He retired from the public schools after teaching English and Creative Writing for 35 years. Besides writing, he enjoys painting landscapes and wildlife art.

Know anyone who might appreciate reading Mark’s poem?
Why not share the link to this page?

Have you read these poems:
Zuma by Craig Cotter
Today, I Rest by Shanta Dickerson

Table of Contents