TEHACHAPI TO NORTH BEACH

TEHACHAPI TO NORTH BEACH

When the coyote cries on the hillside

And hawks circle round the rising moon

When the wind blows through the willow

And moss hangs among the yellow leaves of the live oak

When the milkweed is abundant

And butterflies return to feed in the cypress groves

When the creeks swell and burst from the rains

That have all but disappeared from the coast

And when the fault line trembles

As plates move further apart to the north and to the south

When the golden grasses of summer ripen

And grow tall enough to hide the poppies

When grasshoppers spring from the arroyo into the fog

And the sound of crickets reverberates

From the rocks like a wind chime

When lightening strikes Half Dome

And thunder roars through the Valley

Like a Shasta avalanche

When the sun rises in silence

And you can see the ocean

From the mission on Diablo

When medicine drums echo through the canyon,

A prayer wheel spins in the sunlight,

And prayer flags fly in the four directions

When the dharma bell rings from Tehachapi to North Beach

Then healing will come to the land

Healing will come

- to the land

And when the sound of the last bell

Fades in the darkness at midnight

I will be reborn

Paresh

[this poem was published in The Anthology of Monterey Bay Poets 2004]