Chapel in the Chaparral

Come in May
a time of flowering.
You may not know
You are smelling sage
From chaparral,
on this space of earth,
this sandy hill,
this higher ground
overlooking the Pacific,
this amphitheater
facing a tan and green bluff
sculptured by rain and wind.

Come in May,
as on Sunday,
when the chamiso is frosted
with white blooms
and other plants are dressed
in white, yellow, orange,
blue, magenta and violet,
background of tan and green.
Stroll through the chaparral,
the chamiso, the sage,
the buckwheat, the yucca, the agave,
the prickly pear cactus.
Meditate on the beautiful spread.

Listen to the children
running the paths
between classrooms,
buildings hidden up and down
brushy slopes.
You say it's not the site,
it's the thoughtful people,
the openness to ideas.
This refuge for free minds,
this community where we commune.

You can come
in the heat of summer,
in the cool of winter,
but come in May
to see the chaparral
dressed for show,
and the great hawk
circling the wide blue sky,
a hawk some will remember
after the words
are long forgotten.