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Heritage Shared Essays, Papers, and Poetry

Southland Mountain Cycle
By Robert Pavlik

Chaparral

A soft sound 
For a hard land 
Home to the horned lizard and the red tail hawk 
Chamise, sage and scrub oak with small, leathery leaves and 
Pungent, fragrant smells in summer 
That explodes in flame 
In the fall 
The seared, scorched earth 
Inures itself to winter rain 
Runoff rushes in torrents to the sea 
And in spring 
As damp clouds cast shadows 
Life erupts from the soil 
The return of the softness of 
Chaparral.