late summer and the dusty grapes

ashy purple

we slip between the rows and pick what we want like birds. the hills are yellow, she says, because it’s been so long since the last rain.

the cawing of a crow

according to the Department of Labor, 53 percent of U.S. agricultural laborers are undocumented. and owing to conditions specific to California, some estimate that 90 percent of the state’s farmworkers are illegal aliens.

where does this appear in your history

a blue barn and seven digger pines on the ridge, the vineyard had been abandoned. as children, we crushed grapes in a bucket, thought we could turn juice into wine.

it didn’t quite work out that way at all