Four Landscapes Looking West
Caroline Preziosi
I / Hematite
flax, looking for darkness
something mineral
yellow so small
in the brush of green
heat waiting for shade
the reflection of beneath
of sight
directly into shadow
falls supernal
blue, and the last moment
of the eclipse as it is pulled into darkness
no ceiling, no cover, no shortening
of space
II / Klipsan
all but shallow
sun that sets
in the layer of sky between
mist and water
and thought
casting a straight light
through cloud,
unsifted
sky and ember
the messenger
echoes
far enough in the distance
a figure so small the light
goes through completely
to sand, having been stained
with sky
turning to slate
turning to walk across
the broken shore
too soon
III / Neahkahnie
giving into the pine,
a heavy glow
from between
soft blades
shifting green
and above, sunspots
printed down fingers
of light
crescent profile
falling from the headland
without loss
anything
a dart in the sun
alone, the strangers
each the only one they see
sharing approximations
to the summit,
a shadow cast
and broken
by the rock
IV / Kelso
and quiet
this line
at sky and land
constraint grows
lighter
at dusk
or with hours grows
colder, the horizon cut
out of paper
the hills
in amber hide
all rust, all valley,
all slow and turning
dry cracked earth
in our hands