Past Disaster

At midday, drifting

through a barren lot
I stumbled on a static
solar system: rings

of stones. No, rubble,
rough and loveless,
I discovered--
asphalt, concrete, trash.

But flung together
from some past
disaster, they 
petaled open

like a peony
with crabgrass pacing
a labyrinth’s paths
between the clutter.

I’d been passing
through with nothing
on my mind but troubles
and this reminded me

it’s not important
to remember nothing
matters. Detritus,
razed spaces,

these muster miracles
that sense and order
never could have
put together.

2017