Saffron dust sprinkled with verdigris

Under the fleshy microscope

A desert with sparse crumpled leaves

Flown in on mechanical shipments

From an angry Pacific Rim atoll

Where the crowd moves languidly

Onto the jutting reefs and lava flows

Drip, drip, dripping into the dust

As the petite pond pushes new banks

A cyclone whirl from bamboo reed

Mixes saffron and verdigris into goldenrod

The marshland on a palette landscape

Treated muslin a new frontier

Waiting on bristles to dance

Dot, daub, dribble in two steps

Mark Salow