Glass And Gloss

Visited upon by hummingbirds in midsummer’s yawn with the eyelids of the earth wide open under a sky deeper, under a sky more blue than all the world’s oceans. Patio seating and concrete pads lay still in the breeze, unmoved and unchanged. The magentan fumes lift higher beyond the cottonwoods, above the willow, birch, and chokecherry. Above the crick, the sun sinks lower, shooting vigorous violets with subdued siennas kismet and flyway blue. The wind rustles, shifting fallen twigs and dead seed pods across the field empty, unengaged the hawkweed and oxtongue are free to grow, welcoming Bucks and the occasional Stag. The shadows move like sundials hiding the motes that float through the air free, falling then lifting again, dancing off to a place far from here, landing on the back of a field mouse picked up by a red tail torn apart by talons and curved beak. The structure of our mouse breaks under pressure, skin tearing at the dermis and severing the collagen fibers that keep its entrails contained. The red tail blends perfectly with the deep red of sunset Rayleigh scattering, tricking the eye and providing cover for a distant avian life taker traveling without retinue steely-eyed without a need to nerve. The colors stutter, shades dwindle, and darkness dominates the light, fading slowly from the sky. A horizontal crescent remains in the west while the east lay silent, waiting for the next revolution. The night is time to rest time for the green to catch the gold under stars made of glass and gloss.

Cover Art: Under The Eye Of Yuttahih - Mark Maggiori