Yellow as the last aspen leaves drifting to earth
Yellow as the cat-skidder lurching up hills
Perfect as the four killdeer eggs hidden in plain sight
Perfect as the crankcase oil stain dribbled on white sand
Their browse line tortures the island
like a Victorian corset, cinching
spill of green to trim waist
rising four feet from ground. Every
leaf and blade ripped clean
away, native plantscape stripped naked
Kim Goldberg is a poet, journalist and author in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Her award-winning articles on politics, environment and social issues have appeared in numerous magazines in North America and England for more than twenty years. She has written four nonfiction books including Submarine Dead Ahead! and The Barefoot Channel.