Coming Homethe scarlet flame
of Indian paintbrush
licks at sego lily’s
ivory heart
consuming the dew
dropped by the mountain morning
the raucous scold
off Stellar’s jay
echoes against the jagged
Sawtooth jaws
biting deeply
the azure sky
the lifting limbs
of Douglas fir
embrace the billowing
white clouds
caressing the pregnant
belly of lightning’s birth
the reflecting flow
of the river named for salmon
records these passing scenes
and is shattered by
the splashing tail
of one Redfish coming home
Byron JohnsonRetired Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court 