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In the Shadows of the Atoms
Not because I have given you every herb bearing seed, and every tree, the bristlecone and July gold, the many-flowered navarretia,
but because you have forgotten your goodbyes to the yellow-legged frog of the southern mountain and the evening primrose of the Antioch Dunes,
you will fly away with the marbled murrelet and great gray owl, and no limestone salamander will grant a stay pending further review.
When the trees are dying one by one you will be awakened by dreams of being late.
Because the court had no notice that the jury’s findings ignored the laws of physics, the government took the raisins.
Because the broken window and bullet holes found in the squad car were caused by the ricocheting bullets fired from the officers’ own guns, the Delhi Sands flower- loving fly and Kern County sphinx moth are leaving, and you shall return to the atoms that are slowly spinning away,
casting spectral shadows like prison bars even on the stars and their right to remain as silent as desert road signs at night
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