The Weird Year

Then came drought like a hammer
our victory garden tomatoes split
then wizened like turds

Recrudescent mottled moths
broad as leatherwing bats
emerged soapy from the dishpan

Bracket fungus the size of a horse's head
erupted overnight in a great greasy
effusion staining the lawn

Wildfires, winds, high water, hurricanes
the air pulsed with praying mantises
long-knitted scars loosened and bulged

In the mornings, we gathered up gray hair and ashes
sprouting from the shower drain
materia medica for the next plague