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Testing One
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After the fires died down, and the smoke blew away
the only thing left of the little lizards
and the spiders
a lone jackrabbit
and a burrow owl
were their shadows trapped in a plate of glass
an uneven windowpane of melted desert sand.
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If you could lift this glass out of the desert
cut it into tiles
find some use for it in your house
you could keep their trapped surprise with you always
some memory of a sunny day in the Nevada desert
populated by creatures unaware they were trespassing
on government property.
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North of Oxford 