I. 41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmZaEMzXaT
Desert heat, high clouds, and sky41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqA9CO3bUV
the color of lapis. On this journey,41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJ5uySfPpN
anything seems possible,41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxC7GmtbKP
so we stop by an ancient cottonwood41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8kf3cbVx1m
to kiss. The beauty trembles,41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbUsu6JG2u
doesn't say a word, just watches41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRdOVHxoFh
me, so open. Small birds fly by, flock41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxEjr8pBq5
in the shady tree above us. What41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnB2k4W0OcS
settles in her heart? What congeals?41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Ejfiai1vy
Hope? Despair? Far off, the river churns41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Xu5BOePPe
in its sandy banks, swallows veer, turn41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOOGq7VUIB
in fiery air. Will these kisses seal41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUS8Vo4g2vC
her to me? I her lover, she my wife?41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8yE7C5sFv
Is all of this a dream, my whole life?
II. 41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5hxXHQ723
She is just this side of wonderful,41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡan12Qzah1C
and suddenly the glamorous world41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlMUaWMlze
fills itself with shining and we laugh41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTgEuZDw5y
at highway monuments that explain41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXRfp69axg
how hard the trek had been for Franciscans41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbp584stpcp
in the Indian wilderness, poor fellows—41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡezxe39GAWD
conversion is the devil's own41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHgL85cBdat
work! Then the stones of her dream41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vFN7x1CY9
turn up under her feet, the back41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFS6zAKhODm
of a huge land turtle. I know41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6DUydWwOY
we must be circling Paradise41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6rBYWiKsY
because the ants enter the fleshy petals41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKiPnSv8PU
of the roadside flowers with evident41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVlol2PovH
joy and purpose (oh, my dark, pretty one).
III. 41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ehvxzYAG0
Music, my adored. When is there never41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡep5wanBH26
music? My accordion puffs up41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7am7bs8dm
with drinkable melodies. I spill41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96ft94rTYE
her tunes into your listening ear,41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6du9MIIVwc
one after the other: the squeeze-box41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVt6vlQMZh
enters the dance of the plaintive gypsy41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOwTPe4Pbv
with its hard rhythms, lilts the back-41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8tpsgkZTkc
breaking labor song the worker croons41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5o4lIDnu11
to earth, warbles romantic notes of41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPg0H09D7JW
dissolving borders. You melt41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7d3PARShZN
like a woman beneath her lover's touch.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iG5cB9843
Music is happy and pitiless when41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkbielEkRq
it sets fire to combustible souls. Even41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYBfDsJDQz
the raspy bandoneon's voice is lyric.
IV. 41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpiTKaaihp
Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. (Speak41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMYmfoVIfrm
in a whisper.) We slip into this41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVOxFxHtdA
space half cognizant. The land is very41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMF95odEdqm
large indeed: bones of the earth41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1OWr8crmR
worn down, though she is a living thing.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpi4qCZr7Y
See how she exposes her grace? Antelopes41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBD7B3rXG6Y
graze on the far plain—their high,41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM96JtWkHbJ
white tails—the red soil throbs41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDNYobnZyP
its slow heartbeat, and the blue sky41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29QD7jnbXI
clears so smartly, perfectly, like41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOvUCJhrtM
radiance. Are the ancestors near?41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhmb3CaM8E
What can we know? We decide41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4U3KmGUFqw
to wander around this prairie, mistaken41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzz6xdc9wYy
for Utes, buy commodities in little towns.
V.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZaMOz045E
Late afternoon we head west along the willow- banked41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZM8jKkfm9i
Malheur after the long curve of the Snake River plain. (Above the falls where the Shoshone went to pray41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2qtjvN0kt
we soaked our feet in cold water, and I observed41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vq9XV4Jff
the arch of her brown foot.) Rabbitbrush and sage41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsV3se9P7k
along the highway, juniper on far hills and bluffs.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVhReQcy4m
Sundown, and dusk falls over the wide basin of land.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWlmbR7X61
In Burns we eat eggs in a cafe, take a room41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChtppeiMGP
in the Motel 6. In the dark, I can see41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQXYR4NjEV
her black hair, black against the pillows. Its clean41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJ6ehbyCKN
scent makes me think of corn. At dawn, I hold her41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mbCwel9OF
and there are kisses. Then more kisses. Then more41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQS9BwKqbm
The day is cold; a north wind blew last night. But41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmSyqp6DWPs
the land is open. Rain falls in showers of light.
VI. 41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEEcf9brjc
Her hand on my thigh, my shoulder,41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSg3b4m0gj
in my hair. She leans over to kiss my cheek.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlUuF9WAVs
We look at each other, smile. For miles41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnPhF0HjNC
we travel this way, nearly silent, point41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNdWVqj2JD
with eyes or chins at the circling hawk, the king-41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNwpfqXMQF
fisher on the snag above the swollen41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9h7lzz0Je
creek. One night I weep in her arms41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0jrHR679m
as she cries, "Oh, oh, oh!" because I have touched41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaUX9P6KmGz
her scars lightly: throat, belly, breasts.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1k19SgfIB9
In that communion of lovers, thick sobs41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qpuSFdhD8
break from me as I think of my love41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmHMJqJ1RC
back home, all that I have done41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBSU8Ar0ED3
and cannot say. This is the first time41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB7sjhe1bv1
I have left her so completely, so alone.
- Janice Gould
41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUs3qEzg5du
and then Add to home screen.