Trench coat damp with sea spray
Quercus roots grip cliff edge
Badge rests cold in left pocket
Salvia blooms through cracked concrete
Watch the highway breathe night
Headlights write Latin names
We keep vigil salt soil
Storm passed dawn stays
Radio static speaks Latin
Eschscholzia opens gold cups
Traffic hums low counterpoint
Artemisia drinks fog deep
Watch the highway breathe night
Headlights write Latin names
We keep vigil salt soil
Storm passed dawn stays
Binoculars track pine saplings
Pinus contorta bends west
Coffee steams in thermos cup
Eriogonum nods pink heads
No sirens cut marine layer
No footsteps on gravel shoulder
Just roots drinking midnight rain
Just wheels singing tire hymns
Notebook holds two languages
Taxus brevifolia slow growth
Case files pressed in pressed flowers
Ceanothus blue as midnight
Watch the highway breathe night
Headlights write Latin names
We keep vigil salt soil
Storm passed dawn stays
Shift ends gray light spreading
Arctostaphylos bears red fruit
Two silhouettes fold coat up
Monardella smells sweet mint
Watch the highway breathe night
Headlights write Latin names
We keep vigil salt soil
Storm passed dawn stays
Salt soil stays
Pedal steel fades tide line
Roots hold cliff through all time