Makaristos / Wikimedia Commons / Licensed Under Creative Commons
I love you, California
I love what you’ve given me
I love our memories
I loved you when my basement flooded in ‘05
I loved you when I nearly drowned in the river in ‘09
I loved you when my friends’ houses burned in ‘17
I love you now, when others see you as a waste of funds, a waste of resources
I love you now, when the sky is brown and the sun is a mirror for canopy blaze
When the air is soup and blame is scattered, and people are charred to death in their cars
When entire towns disappear in a day
We know it’s not your fault, it’s ours
We know we caused this, we put this on you
We know that even the best forest management can’t stop climate change
But we know that you love us back
Or your beauty wouldn’t persist, despite the smoke
I wish it was fog