Smoke Haze

Haze drifts over the trees, smoke wisps lying low,

snaking through towns, over the streets, and highways,

rising, rising, higher and higher, blotting out blue

The Landmark pointy peaks are invisible in the smoke

from wildfires east and north, riffed here by the wind, and

now encircling us for days

The sun is a round brilliant fireball in the sky at sunset,

Blinding to eyes even with sunshades,

its rays hitting particulates from the blazes

A regular occurrence each summer, these fires;

it used to be drizzly and slightly warm after July 4th through August

Now the months are suffocating, heated up at five o'clock for dinner, staying overnight and for many days, hanging out like a guest who overstays their welcome.

So many days now, the firebreath mixes with this damnable smoke, and I worry for the wildlife and the birds

while everyone waits for that clean wash to flow from the sky,

a gray sky filled with fresh water, not gray from smoke

Copyright © 8/5/2026 by Andrea O. Corwin.  Washington State is on fire east of the mountains. Oregon and Canadian forests are on fire. The prevailing winds send the smoke out, and the air quality is bad. Every summer now.