Cloudy strands of night remain across the morning sky.
Heat wraps ribbons of summer across earth’s face.
Autumn asks simply , “Why?”.
The gift wrapped oxygenated air
is a treasure, earthy yet sublime.
How can we see clearer what is dearer
without a cooler, clearer clime
to unwrap summer’s dulling glaze,
and whip away the haze?
Autumn days unwrap vision a ribbon at a time.
Cooler weather help plants and animals prepare
for wintry days and nights ahead.
Too confused to prepare means death, instead.
Already, heat and drought have killed
the dogwoods and the ferns.
Colors fade as flowers thirst.
Grass browns blade by blade.
Field and forest and neighborhoods
erupt in searing blaze.
Heated winds slap across our face,
challenging humanity to a duel
between green energy and fossil fuel.
Humanity’s death was once foretold;
no longer by the threat of flood,
but by fire, a fire in the blood.
annarino writes 