By: Amy Katherine Cannon

 

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direct observation    

butterflies the size of thumbnails       fumble against dry flowers

       that seem like they have nothing left to yield

the desert and the parched land will be glad  

 

cicadas grind their scissors       from hill to hill

              clouds we cannot name       a string of forgotten sheep

line up along the sky     the mute will shout for joy

 

the desert is greener       than we imagined       honeybees crowding

              to wild buckwheat       olive and bleached pink

the powdery gray of scrub oak

 

long thin reach of mustard plant       tints the sharp slopes yellow

              small sensible flowers       not advertising more than they can offer

the wilderness will blossom       in paler shades than we were used to

 

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Amy Katherine Cannon is a writer and writing teacher living in Los Angeles. She received her MFA from UC Irvine, where she was the recipient of the Gerard Creative Writing Endowment. She is the author of the mini-chapbook to make a desert (Platypus Press, 2016). Her work can be found in Juked, BOAAT, and LIT, among other places. She is Managing Editor of Palaver Arts Magazine, a student publication.