THREE MONTHS AFTER THE FIRE

Lines of ash on black tree bark,

above the snow, in layered relief.

The old wood fences have fallen,

not burned, not left with any mark,

but gestured, cracked in middle,

stifled by the weight of heat.

House gone, horses

still there, tied up to a post in the yard.

The trees stand behind them, silent,

and yet expressing certain ways to see.

Jeremy Reed lives in Missoula where he recently received his MA in Literature from the University of Montana. He has published creative work in Camas: The Nature of the West and The Cresset, and he has reviewed poetry for Cutbank Online.