Command Performance

 

Hot and humid again. Overhead clouds hang

low, angry and dark, circling and moving on.

The thickened air heavy with the carbonized

acridity of burning forest, a haze that lingers

on the atmosphere, a peculiar light piercing

the forest canopy. You know, you can feel

rain is imminent, but the forest calls and you

respond, shunting aside thoughts of its densely

treed interior, the canopy that will afford little

relief when the sky breaks its impasse with the

clouds. Penetrating the forest, wind sways the

steeples of tall old firs, tearing foliage from 

poplars and willows, but its cooling nudge is

an antidote to the raging heat within. Your boots

slide on the cracked and parched trails descending

to the ravine's forest of pines and willows

spruce and oak. Stop, watch awhile as the trees

lean to the bellowing wind, the stream below

rampant in its whirling gush downstream. Take

your time in the pollinating meadow where 

wildflowers thrum with the presence of bees and

hoverflies. Then ascend to the lip of the ravine

and thank the forest for its hospitality. Amble

down the street to where you left your home and

garden just as cooling bursts of rain explode.