Poems by Caitlin Dunn
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Zero Percent Containment
by Caitlin Dunn
From Canary Fall 2022
Caitlin grew up just above a floodplain in the San Luis Valley with the Huerfano River to the north of her home. She currently lives in the Big Dry Creek watershed and struggles to grow plants outside in her 6a growth zone garden.
At seven, the raw
water cuts out. In the hills
before the sunset
we see where it went.
Fire in rebuking fingers
over Trinchera
Mountain and the Pass.
They say the sound of it is
like a coal train, or
a heavy North Wind,
but from the valley we just
hear helicopters
and ringneck doves. It
hasn’t rained in months. Six hours
ago a man down
the way thought he’d strike
up a campfire to cook some
Jimmy Deans. The world
takes videos of
his last mistake while it crawls
like hate toward us.
© Caitlin Dunn