by Sara Aranda

The lone bison grazes
in a field of yellow tones
dark trees surround his meadow
and the sun is settling down
beyond the mountains and thermal flats
that glow cyan, green, and orange.
Plumes of steam rise into the ether
and boiled water bubbles from the ground
the smell of sulfur stings your eyes and lungs
like beasts in anger, bellows loud
the geysers paint white soil across the land.
And by the morning the elk have lightly tread
and frost has spread across this table
from which we cook a fitting breakfast of eggs,
basalt columns leaning grateful.
Down jackets, hats, and gloves
we huddle to the elk’s grazing song
wonder about the bison
and her coat of perfect bronze.

Inspired by Yellowstone National Park