Pinery Canyon by David Chorlton

Down the trilling slopes

on the burnt side of Onion Saddle

birds are back

in the blackened trees

while the earth beneath them greens

 

and fire has a memory

that outlasts smoke

when the air is dry enough to snap.

David Chorlton was born in Austria, grew up in Manchester, England, and went to live for several years in Vienna before moving to Phoenix in 1978. Arizona’s landscapes and wildlife have become increasingly important to him and a significant part of his poetry. His most recent collection is The Devil’s Sonata from FutureCycle Press. The shadow side of Vienna provides the core of The Taste of Fog, a work of fiction published by Rain Mountain Press.