Claire Matturro, Florida, USA
From the porch, we smell
pine and beargrass smoke as
the national forest burns
east of us. Hot air cracks,
settling ash on our tongues
and crusting our eyes.
The creek, gone
from flow to mud
then sand, smells of dead
fish. With something
like faith we had planted
an acre of peas.
When the well churns
up silt, dark
and undrinkable, I regret
the long hot showers
and careless irrigation,
all our arrogant waste.
As fire burns closer,
deep-rooted Magnolias
drop leaves curled
like brown fists. Cardinals
pluck the planted peas
from disked rows of dust.
Claire Matturro was a lawyer until she moved to the woods and turned to teaching at a state university law school and to creative writing. An author of eight novels, including a series published by HarperCollins, she now lives in Florida. Claire remains active in writers' and environmental groups and is an associate editor at Southern Literary Review.
