This Sacred Earth
This Silvery Day
waves sparkling
sky a royal blue promise
through gray clouds
crows caw squirrels bark
a tiny swallow chirps in the eucalyptus
a peacock display of bushes lines the bluff
a plein air workshop meets
to paint differing views
I hear a blast of static
see a couple cuddling on a blanket
"drones over Mosul"
veiled women
strap themselves to explosive devices
train their young for suicide
I inhale perfume of purple sage
watch as a lone sailboat drifts
toward the brown haze at the horizon
and wonder
what gene must mutate
for Evil to vanish
from this sacred earth
Nancy Shiffrin