Poems by Beth Suter

California Pastoral

by Beth Suter

Beth lives in the lower Putah Creek watershed where it empties into the Sacramento River Basin directly under the Pacific Flyway.

we tried to edge the lawn, pruned
and raked ourselves tidy

I don’t remember when we stopped
sweating to make the yard
into what we thought it should be

whatever’s left out there now
is wild and takes care of itself

we lost the plum tree to drought—
woodpeckers turned the husk
into a home