Indian Summer
Santa Cruz, California
Everything is dying in the garden… only gourds still ripening,
and late tomatoes that keep filling with blood.
In the valley it’s 105—a Salinan* mirage—
a last stand slamming across the tile roofs of each mission.
So we pull off our shirts, sit on the patio
among the pumpkins and un-raked leaves—face the blazing lion.
“Western civilization is a temporary blip in the historical record…”
you say as you lay down your book, turn over to roast
a different continent of flesh. Eyes closed, you start to sweat.
“They say it’s snowing in Boston.” You turn again.
How utterly immoral… yet we always feign surprise.
And how we treasure it.
Salinan*
*Native Americans who lived in the Salinas Valley
Ken Weisner is a Seabright neighborhood Santa Cruzan who teaches writing & literature and edits Red Wheelbarrow through De Anza Community College. Ken has published two collections of poems, The Sacred Geometry of Pedestrians (2002) and Anything on Earth (2010) with Hummingbird Press.
‘Santa Cruz Poets, Santa Cruz Inspiration’ is edited by Robert Sward. Please, contributions by invitation only.
