Mid-December, Central California, Waiting for the Geminid Meteor Shower

Fredric Hildebrand — Wed, 28 Oct 2026 15:16:37 -0400

Darkness spreads above the mountains
like a plume of oil. Cool wind draws

apart three-day clouds. Soon a carousel
of stars in the moonless sky-bowl, some

in formations we can name. Lying back
toward midnight on the truck hood,

we search for transient streaks of meteors.
The ticking engine as it cools. The smell

of cattle and rain-soaked hay. A coyote
yips in the distance.

Dew settles on our clothes. I rub the ridges
on the back of your hand.

Somewhere, the unseen asteroid dust.

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Bakersfield

Fredric Hildebrand — Wed, 28 Oct 2026 15:13:00 -0400

At dusk, behind the Prince Palace Truck Stop,
an irrigation ditch gurgles between backyards
and the highway.

My dog strains at his leash, snaps at small insects
rising from the cottonwoods along the bank.
Beyond the muddy water and a car up on blocks,

tinny ranchera music drifts on the warm breeze.
A few men drink and laugh, pitching horseshoes
in a dusty lot. Women tend a smoky barbecue.

A young Hispanic girl in a white party dress
scrapes a stick along a cyclone fence. Suddenly,
a gust of wind whips up a cloud of dust and leaves.

The girl presses her up-fluttering dress to her knees.
One of the men shouts as he clangs in a ringer.
Moments like that, you can love this country.

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Fredric Hildebrand | Updates

Mid-December, Central California, Waiting for the Geminid Meteor Shower

Bakersfield