Sequoia Sunrise
by Mark A. Fisher
icicle
starlight
hanging down
through the silent
red giants
while the thumbnail moon
spills silver light
that pools in the meadows
and slowly seeps out
into the forest
’til the barest hints
of red in the eastern sky
makes the first bird begin to
drowsily sing, rousing chickaree
hidden high up in the trees
and answered by a woodpecker
beating beating beating out the rhythm
for the chorus building in a crescendo with the light
above this bright morning cacophony
the sequoias
listen
Previously published in Avocet Summer 2010
PHOTO: Sunset Campground, Kings Canyon National Park, Hume, California. Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash
NOTE: Sequoia National Park was established on September 25, 1890 to protect 404,064 acres of forested mountainous terrain in Northern California. The park is notable for its giant sequoia trees, including the General Sherman tree, the largest tree on Earth by volume. The park’s giant sequoia forests are part of 202,430 acres of old-growth forests shared by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The giant sequoia is the world’s most massive tree, and arguably the largest living organism on Earth. The largest giant sequoias are as tall as a 26-story building, and the width of their bases can exceed that of a city street.
PHOTO: The General Sherman tree in Sequoia National Park (Tulare County, California). With a height of 275 feet, a diameter of 25 feet, and an estimated age of 2,300–2,700 years, it is among the tallest, widest, and longest-lived of all trees on the planet. Photo by Tuxyso, used by permission.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mark A. Fisher is a writer, poet, and playwright living in Tehachapi, California. His poetry has appeared in riverbabble, Spectrum, Silver Blade, Penumbra, Lummox, and many other places. His first chapbook, drifter, is available from Amazon. His second, hour of lead, won the 2017 San Gabriel Valley Poetry Chapbook Contest.
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