Poisonwood

Deer linger in the bitterbrush Below the gambel oak— The brittle fern shows no concern For killdeer or cowpoke. The miner’s candle lights our way Now lost in limber pine— The water birch does not besmirch Beargrass at timberline. Sky pilots bend on mountain side Dark as the black hawthorn— A horned lark rests on the ninebark— Between the two we’re torn. We journey south through water oak, Coral bean, supple jack— We ride beneath magnolia leaf And miss not what we lack. A canebrake rattler comes too close, Like death in the sweet bay— Chinaberry makes us tarry This oleander day.