Owens Lake

The bourbon Manhattan was made neat,
and I like it light on the vermouth,
shaken with a sense of urgency.
Although no shortness of breath was being
experienced by my table partner,
we decided to talk about Owens Lake
and the migrating birds and the decades-long
dust clouds causing air quality problems.
She said her tomato soup was really good.
I told her a man from Bishop said the air was filled
with small particles, an immense quantity of them, and
It was dangerous to breathe.
She remarked about the croutons being baked to perfection.
I wondered about the black-bellied plovers, especially,
and the restoration of the breeding areas.
She said her drink was one of the best she's had
recently and we should return as soon as possible,
maybe when the same bartender was on duty!
I wondered if the water would be reintroduced to the basin
and eventually temper the dust, making it
less of a nuisance because of newly-introduced control efforts.
She said her tuna salad consisted of bits of dried bananas and crispy Asian noodles.
I said I once saw a pair of mating avocets swimming on the untapped
waters of Owens lake; in a gust of wind they played a ritual that had
to be courtship.
She offered me her tiny red cherry when
I told her the avocets had heads of burnished orange.
I paid for our lunch and we left in a cloud of dust.