My cats dislike fireworks.
And so do I.
And it’s not even the fourth of July.

Unimpressed by bombs bursting
we avert our eyes
and continue speaking with firelight,
one thousand genial eyes
jumping out to join us
in their subtlety.
The nations crane
their necks skyward
while the hearth
reveals the secrets of time
to the kneeling.

–Nala Walla, July 1st, 2018