for Moises Velasquez-Manoff and Gabriella Demczuk
Wildfires are another accelerant.
Saltwater marsh advancing
on the pond pine with a blank check
and a taste for renovation, as expected.
Death occurring unevenly across
the landscape - sawgrass and black
needle rush are actually a beautiful setting
for selling discount sunglasses.
The eye travels on top of standing water,
consuming the few scraggly trunks that rise
above the muck. If only: the ghost forest
regenerates its leaves, young trees
quickly sprout, eager and now able
to gain a foothold in the marshes
only their own forebears could tolerate.
The vision collapses in a synergy
of fire and salt. Acre upon
sun-bleached acre standing sentinel
to our failure. Still, a saltmarsh sparrow
nurses a nest of cordgrass.
In my eyes: salinity goes up.
The brain is a dark room, memory a salt print.
