Garden Party
By Mary Sawyer
Burning forests Send smoke down the mountains Settling in valleys and spilling into ocean channels filling the air with white haze
The red sun a flaming berry at first I took pictures how pretty
“The world’s seas have hit the hottest temperature on record for July,” reports The Guardian. Another headline states, “2026 may be the hottest year in human record.” A reader comments, “That is, until 2027.”
The Pacific Northwest is cedar and hemlocks and Douglas Fir Vast forests reach for the sun. A raven’s call. The whoosh of black wings high up Beneath the boughs a glowing fairy garden mushrooms and moss
Trees soak up carbon and cool the earth. Or do they explode like a thousand torches Do they roar and choke? Do screaming wings fall from the sky?
Inside the restaurant overlooking the harbor Next to the white arbors hanging with wisteria’s lacey purple bouquets near the sunken garden with dahlias the size of dinner plates their magenta petals exploding like a royal salute to the sky Hangs a grand painting honoring a July 13, 1906 visit from US President Teddy Roosevelt
A garden party. Colorful lanterns hang on string between the trees
HVWP COMMONPLACE 34
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