It’s time for the newscasters to surrender
and generals in unison
to quote their God: If I find in Sodom fifty
righteous within the city, then I will spare all
the place for their sakes.
Few stars visible.
An air-conditioned hum.
Traffic easy here on Earth
while other worlds in the great nowhere
sparkle in the way
of unkept promises. So bright and yet
so far away.
Today the White crowned sparrows
arrived in the yard where they stay until
spring, the Red-tail in his glory
circled, the desert lay down in the sun
and showed off the birds
whose home is there: Roadrunner, shrike
and quail
while thoughts and prayers
from the last mass shooting
were recycled. The moon’s at half mast
tonight, but bright enough
to see coyotes by as their body language
says Nature
isn’t cruel, it’s practical.