Substance

I.  
 
I write to you beneath a canopy  
of a Code Red Air Quality Alert  
ashen smog you're breathing  
has escaped down wind to us
 
A piercing hypodermic syringe  
punctures inhalation efforts  
with an extended heartache  
trying desperately to evacuate  
 
Yet my blood readily accepts  
traces of your exhaled breath  
into the cavernous gorge  
of discomfort separating us  
 
II.  
 
I dreamt smoke inspired you  
the oily plume of feather
upending you unto its pinion  
before leaving me suspended
 
In a serenely chaotic oxymoron  
beneath a new moon evening  
- - so countless in promise  
so starless in substance - -
~  
 
 
 
 
Authors note: Nearly 46,000 acres total have already burned across the Blue Ridge."Crews are still fighting what is being called the most dangerous wildfire in the mountains and the second-most critical fire in the nation." Pray for our mountains, pray for rain, pray for those working around the clock to contain the flames. And if you don't believe, pray anyway.