Notes on Revisiting Caldor, by Taylor Graham

Notes on Revisiting Caldor

23 months after fire:

black oak sprouts from a scorched base

deerbrush, Sierra milkwort

fresh deer prints on old dirt road

spotted towhee unseen in the brush

dry meadow alive with mullein

velvety goldenrod, heart-leaf milkweed

among black skeleton conifers, new ponderosa sprouts –

too many, too dense for the forest to support

grown a foot in 3 months

red-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper

dragonfly; bumblebee pollenating grindelia

red-tailed hawk invisible in blue

Lest I get lost in the details –

this is the forest I’ve loved for half my life,

and searched with my dogs for ghosts of the dead.

Ash to ash, and beyond.

This is the forest coming back.

-Taylor Graham