paint on bungalows after the rain
synesthesia in a minor key
foliage in sharp relief
wet macadam collects nests of needles
pinecones chewed to eggs
red mulch strangles the verge
soles of shoes gather the day’s dust
kites are shadows above the bridge
night and bats ascend
so too the throb of tree-cricket songs
frogs carol across the water
fireflies captured in a jar
loneliness illuminated
one child invents a lighthouse
As The Mist Lifts
Jay Brecker works and writes in southern California. His poems are forthcoming or have appeared in Rattle Poets Respond, Permafrost, Lily Poetry Review, Ocean State Review, The Inflectionist Review, South 85 Journal, I-70 Review, RHINO Poetry, and elsewhere. His manuscript, A Ceiling is a Wall Seeking, was a semi-finalist for the 2020 Wheeler Prize for Poetry.