right hand pointing

Creosote

Every morning

at daybreak, Jake

takes a long walk

among the creosote.

He likes the space

between the plants,

allowing them

the water they need

for survival.  Water

 

is scarce out here

as an issue-free

existence.  Roots

of the creosote

are both shallow,

to slurp the moisture

of fifty square yards,

and deep, to reach

groundwater.

 

The tap roots

are tough enough

to penetrate caliche.

Jake loves the camphor-

like smell of creosote

after a monsoon rain,

ballooning his lungs

with the scent of plants

hundreds of years old.