I. 58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxc9KP8RSny
Desert heat, high clouds, and sky58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnM6gxIeiXB
the color of lapis. On this journey,58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2iSCkUhCS7
anything seems possible,58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ23WJhhmss
so we stop by an ancient cottonwood58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcmoUJetrq
to kiss. The beauty trembles,58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3xK9Xgdx5
doesn't say a word, just watches58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zH419VmDD
me, so open. Small birds fly by, flock58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVhw6WMaLc
in the shady tree above us. What58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyz8BMyzCI
settles in her heart? What congeals?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAIPeBfYKQ
Hope? Despair? Far off, the river churns58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsaKw8b85tf
in its sandy banks, swallows veer, turn58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwNqbNIQAw
in fiery air. Will these kisses seal58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEeMsYH3Fi
her to me? I her lover, she my wife?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYK0n1W7NeO
Is all of this a dream, my whole life?
II. 58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8vmFbitgMY
She is just this side of wonderful,58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6EGuOMRdq
and suddenly the glamorous world58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWW7nj81fG
fills itself with shining and we laugh58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3JAeu0ZCRh
at highway monuments that explain58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvL9pGTJI3j
how hard the trek had been for Franciscans58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlU5DsuUBid
in the Indian wilderness, poor fellows—58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4FsLuydRd
conversion is the devil's own58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSf5ZqTytPR
work! Then the stones of her dream58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtINXSl8tqa
turn up under her feet, the back58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSuBc6H5SRr
of a huge land turtle. I know58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3W0eio7u1h
we must be circling Paradise58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgzh9WovBA
because the ants enter the fleshy petals58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwa6YTcDj5
of the roadside flowers with evident58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhWXkgNzbB
joy and purpose (oh, my dark, pretty one).
III. 58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jnJM8niar
Music, my adored. When is there never58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FMgaephHm
music? My accordion puffs up58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5MDizjtgE
with drinkable melodies. I spill58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPpnuXSn3ex
her tunes into your listening ear,58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6hamZufQR
one after the other: the squeeze-box58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGsqWIXfRH
enters the dance of the plaintive gypsy58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2CWbe8GoE
with its hard rhythms, lilts the back-58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7rMwOZrlwz
breaking labor song the worker croons58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡML3adQgxmr
to earth, warbles romantic notes of58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcewlKLzdrX
dissolving borders. You melt58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xNi1iW6l8
like a woman beneath her lover's touch.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDA34yUSy5Q
Music is happy and pitiless when58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbJmZAtd6j
it sets fire to combustible souls. Even58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡziu3aNWXE2
the raspy bandoneon's voice is lyric.
IV. 58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0wdikP7XDN
Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. (Speak58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3tW0rnnB7
in a whisper.) We slip into this58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrToKmJ2Oh
space half cognizant. The land is very58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD4Xod8lvgb
large indeed: bones of the earth58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipuYbpPk3T
worn down, though she is a living thing.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYsAr16bxi
See how she exposes her grace? Antelopes58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yFtKs8m3m
graze on the far plain—their high,58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuljNpjCWq7
white tails—the red soil throbs58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡProMQE10gV
its slow heartbeat, and the blue sky58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3jp9RZu2c
clears so smartly, perfectly, like58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwx1xuGEEH2
radiance. Are the ancestors near?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJBhb7n8Gu
What can we know? We decide58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yxymsaTAA
to wander around this prairie, mistaken58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhYz5g85nI
for Utes, buy commodities in little towns.
V.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvYPA0AAto
Late afternoon we head west along the willow- banked58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVawSneT1ND
Malheur after the long curve of the Snake River plain. (Above the falls where the Shoshone went to pray58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtESGtWnKco
we soaked our feet in cold water, and I observed58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQqcfv0HAE
the arch of her brown foot.) Rabbitbrush and sage58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQBJhTdrv05
along the highway, juniper on far hills and bluffs.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61gQkoYNwF
Sundown, and dusk falls over the wide basin of land.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJcsTFLQMRN
In Burns we eat eggs in a cafe, take a room58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIb9hLDpssy
in the Motel 6. In the dark, I can see58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaJk8AIRgq
her black hair, black against the pillows. Its clean58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡViHYXHhqy4
scent makes me think of corn. At dawn, I hold her58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrwOzRAIyvI
and there are kisses. Then more kisses. Then more58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKL6PzMtmgG
The day is cold; a north wind blew last night. But58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtElzhdu7Yu
the land is open. Rain falls in showers of light.
VI. 58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCjKcZK7al
Her hand on my thigh, my shoulder,58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVLUGfMoUm
in my hair. She leans over to kiss my cheek.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKabkfJELu1
We look at each other, smile. For miles58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDb7O5ZkANp
we travel this way, nearly silent, point58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWHXM4ZD6f
with eyes or chins at the circling hawk, the king-58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5Aveay1hQ
fisher on the snag above the swollen58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOMV7SulRC
creek. One night I weep in her arms58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtVxz9ONGr
as she cries, "Oh, oh, oh!" because I have touched58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6rBI7c3pH2
her scars lightly: throat, belly, breasts.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZQRrt4CS3
In that communion of lovers, thick sobs58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSJCfoskyB
break from me as I think of my love58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjU1skBntDo
back home, all that I have done58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLanIwiSnBv
and cannot say. This is the first time58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cP7MJzLQm
I have left her so completely, so alone.
- Janice Gould
58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3f5DNG14oG
and then Add to home screen.