Orange County Nature Writing

A literary celebration of the natural beauty of this place

All photos by Thea Gavin unless otherwise credited. Web site  created by  Thea Gavin (who should perhaps stick to making compost).  ©2008 ocnaturewriting.com. Last update 8/24/08.

Twenty months of sun days—

the succulent battery loses

its green charge.

Prickly pear pads yellow,

seem almost see-through.

Fat dudleya fingertips

sharpen into gray talons.

 

The leathery ones

gathered on north slopes—

laurel sumac, toyon,

lemonade berry—

fold up some, wait

for the clouds to call.

 

Shorter members

of the south-facing mosaic

shrug off their shriveled

leaves—California sagebrush,

brittlebush, monkey flower?

It's hard to recognize skeletons.

 

Twenty months—

2.2 inches of rain.

Drop, storms,

swing south for a while—

we are rattled by the Santa Ana winds.

We want our fat shadows back.

By Thea Gavin

Prickly pear at Santiago Oaks Regional Park.