Shade, Cataclysms, a Place to Sit

The afternoon seemed 
too hot
until we found
our spot
close to the ground
close to the base
of a kind pine
who survived 
a fire and more. 
The clouds 
also
have been generous. 
Our shrouds
a mile or more above
our tenuous hours
where time refuses the earth. 
I like to read
about plagues and extinctions.
Cataclisms
make me feel calm.
So does shade
on an afternoon
that seemed too hot.