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No sunshine in two weeks,
a smoky shroud has descended
upon the land, the tomatoes
turning black on the vines. I can
not see beyond 100 feet, colors
of green disappeared, all is brown
or yellow, ash is gently falling like
bits of grey snow, the air outside
dangerous to breathe, smelling of
wood smoke, reeking of the burned
up hopes and dreams of my neighbors
less than twenty miles away.

Each day the smoke colors change,
red, brown, orange, yellow, eerie
unnatural day time colors, at times
darkness like night at mid day. The
winds have gone and the smoke
has become a choking noxious fog.
This must be how the dinosaurs died.

The news says we have the most
dangerous polluted air quality in
the entire world. Wearing a mask  
even inside my closed shuttered
home. Taking pandemic "self isolation"
to a whole new level.  

I dreamed last night of deep
blue skies, untainted air,
walking the orchard with my
dog, the sun and a smile on
my face. Upon awakening the
reality shroud of smoke remained.

They say some rain might
fall this week, that wind
from the sea will intervene,
blow the smoke East, restoring
the colors of the sky, the sun
and land, breathable air.

I hope that's all true.
I wish not to complain, many are much
worse off than us, we still have our farm
and home. This is merely my impressions
of the now. Strange times with new
challenges to endure, changes that
make hope essential, first the pandemic
and now these mega fires.
"Climate Change" is no longer
dismissive "Fake News"!
Wake up world!
The bogeyman destroyer is here
and he is us.
 Sep 2020 Carmen Jane
Jeanette
Elliott reads aloud from some adventure book, I take over when his eyes are tired.
Luna is in the bath again, she’s a mermaid this week.
Jeremy works from home, his eyes dart back and forth, across computer screens.
If you weren’t watching the news, one could mistaken this merely as reverence for the mundane.
I turn off the news, and feel guilty for wanting to look away, I turn it back on again.
I did nothing to deserve the safety of my home, with the people I love.
I am reminded of the day the second Iraq war started,
we watched from our couch.
Black and white images of falling bombs flooding our screens,
our youngest brother weeping in my mother’s chest.
We all held him and assured him that it was happening somewhere far away,
that it was happening in someone else’s house, not our own.
I wanted to cry then, but I thought I was too old,
Sometimes I want to cry now, but I’m even older.
The neighbor’s dog howls all day long.
The kids run, laughing maniacally, from living-room,
to bedroom, and back again.
They are unencumbered by the chaos that remains unseen/unfelt in our home
I am grateful for that.
What happens to a broken promise?

Does it sting
like a bee?
or creates a wound
and leaves a scar?
Does it die in the heart
or grow as a seed

Maybe it just lives
like a ghost

Or it creates strangers?
This is my remake of  Langston Hughes' a dream deferred. I've been in love with the poem for sometime now. I dedicate this piece to those in search of true and meaningful friendships
 Sep 2020 Carmen Jane
Jada
This time.

This time.

This time.

Like a fly trying to get outside, I keep slamming into seen and unseen barriers.

I keep trying and hoping.

This time will be different.

This time things will work out.

This time.  

My skull is cracked

Blood is running down my chest

But I keep trying and hoping.

This time.  

This time.  

This time.
share your beach
With ocean waves
Unfurling
Warm speckled sand
A seagull or two
Share your jungle
Loud noises filling
The air
Monkies swinging branch
To branch
Share your desert
A cactus green and
Scorching heat
The deep blue sea
And all her fish
And the sky so
Full of stars
But mostly share yourself
With no one but me
My dearest friend
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