Due to ghost winds
and dry conditions, combined with a silence
of heat, coyote cries
down the valley, dying cranes and a strange
dust in the sky. Due to occult agreements,
divine right of kings, ciphers
disguising the meaning of money, all of which
create a heightened fire risk,
PG&E may need to turn off power
for reasons of
public safety at your address in the next 24 hours.
As we continue to monitor conditions, please prepare
for outrages that could last longer than 48 hours, for example:
freeways full of dead dogs
in tin boxes, a lack
of thin plastic carrying a diamond
hope of water. Santa Ana tornado
spinning fury. Younger sister
of Katrina, just learning to stand.
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Dion O’Reilly’s first book, Ghost Dogs, is due in spring of 2020 from Terrapin Books. Her work appears in The Massachusetts Review, New Letters, Sugar House Review, Rattle, and The Sun. She is a member of The Hive Poetry Collective, which produces podcasts about poetry.
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