I was there when the dieback began.

     First I felt the dead drive

toward total florescence, company drying-out

     as the sun went down

on prime real estate, sandalwood, cedar

     feathers in the red run, charred

plains of old geology

     bled maritime types into eternal night
spectral as money gluts.

     The carve-up hits home in total darkness.

But, it's true, I can see you now, standing

     waves lonely as a memory

annihilates the sweet & grassy light, singing O

     we never stood there, never.