California

Your sprawling beaches
and majestic mountains
call out to passers-through,

“My aesthetic sports a welcome mat
which is laid out for
people like you.

It rarely rains.
​No humidity here!
You deserve a haven like this.”

But then, fall comes
​with ferocious fires—
consuming all notions of bliss.

© 2019 gratefulsue
back to Beautiful and Difficult

August 2, 2024
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So, some people will not like this poem because it voices a negative aspect of living in California. Sorry! I get it! California is indeed a unique state: gorgeous coastal vistas and ocean beaches, huge, thriving cities, tall mountains for climbing, and abundant opportunities for all. I just thought it was fun to show the irony and a hint of sadness. Such beauty and opportunity juxtaposed with struggle and danger. I wrote the poem in 2019, a couple of years after my second son had moved there from the east coast to find his fortune. Surely, there was a bit of my personal loss buried in this poem. Since then, two of his three siblings also moved to California! Sigh.

I remember my grandmother saying her family moved to California temporarily. However, after an earthquake the first year, and a fire the next, her parents decided to move back east. I think all coastal states are vulnerable to hurricanes. The Midwest is vulnerable to tornados. We just have to do the best we can where we’re planted. If the risks (adverse weather or whatever) become higher than the benefits (such as opportunities, or California’s Jacaranda trees, referenced in the poem, “Look up!”), then it’s time to move.