Fire in San Francisco

By Majid Naficy

The sun is rising
Over the San Francisco Bay
Covered by an orange haze.
Yesterday
Thousands of people
Fled the fire.
Little Ross said:
“I told the kids:
‘Let’s take a trip.’
We took the dog and cat
And an album of photos.
The neighbor sent us the last picture
Of our burnt house.”
I know,
One can buy the other stuff.
When I fled Iran
I took only my notebook of poems
With a photo of Ezzat
In the flowerbed of her house.
“Here comes the sun and I say
It’s alright
Little darling!”*

        August 20, 2020