California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica)

Until I met you, I prayed 

to water. But you shone 

in want. What's it like 

to grow from where

the earth cracks in thirst?

I have walked and walked, 

crying out for home, stumbled 

over barren ground,

eyes on the road behind me. 

Finally, to come upon you—

amidst nothing—

golden tongues lapping 

light, sun on a stem, 

your green-feathered hands.

How have you made 

loneliness a virtue?

I will not call you fire

even as you burn, 

orange flash on brown bluff. 

Fire can be tamed—

gas lamps snuffed, candlewax 

drowning captive flames.

You are another kind of wild, 

accepting only death 

if plucked from your hill. 

You, my home—the one 

I never dreamed:

solitary, still, only the barking

of sea lions far below, 

a small breeze now and then, 

your steady glow.

Kathryn Petruccelli holds an MA in teaching English language learners. Read more.


Kathryn Petruccellli's poem "California Poppy" first appeared in the magazine Catamaran.

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