I. 56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9RyavtdHB
Desert heat, high clouds, and sky56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNvd4REPv0e
the color of lapis. On this journey,56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡag5qerfzS2
anything seems possible,56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntepoM4vpx
so we stop by an ancient cottonwood56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DoID74yTw
to kiss. The beauty trembles,56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodoNzKCKj0
doesn't say a word, just watches56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfyNBqzl8o
me, so open. Small birds fly by, flock56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVDXKssCWL
in the shady tree above us. What56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLYaPndMrZ
settles in her heart? What congeals?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcTCDOUAsd
Hope? Despair? Far off, the river churns56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuU0JZz58gk
in its sandy banks, swallows veer, turn56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXvOfelc24t
in fiery air. Will these kisses seal56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfftxk1IS2v
her to me? I her lover, she my wife?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRpxizIJbB
Is all of this a dream, my whole life?
II. 56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35sxxkG3yk
She is just this side of wonderful,56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOlhwzPIA5
and suddenly the glamorous world56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbROcGsVf4s
fills itself with shining and we laugh56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRchPOeQwp
at highway monuments that explain56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31s40WcdDx
how hard the trek had been for Franciscans56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWntu6YztY
in the Indian wilderness, poor fellows—56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb9VlBUeqeB
conversion is the devil's own56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWiZIpKxq2
work! Then the stones of her dream56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMb5y39hrOv
turn up under her feet, the back56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXXQk0AOo8
of a huge land turtle. I know56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsGPKEUDBo
we must be circling Paradise56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJgG4m2XxS
because the ants enter the fleshy petals56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXF25xge5cZ
of the roadside flowers with evident56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtARK4fae8X
joy and purpose (oh, my dark, pretty one).
III. 56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjMExtkFlS
Music, my adored. When is there never56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCYsvjjYt9
music? My accordion puffs up56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlfWruz5Qh6
with drinkable melodies. I spill56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWqbh9b8Ys
her tunes into your listening ear,56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZRsyBzayu
one after the other: the squeeze-box56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6XOE2m8P1
enters the dance of the plaintive gypsy56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6dGiNK8nu
with its hard rhythms, lilts the back-56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCeEIo7wtHc
breaking labor song the worker croons56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1iLD84weZ8
to earth, warbles romantic notes of56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7w7443TQo
dissolving borders. You melt56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtiakeLb0z
like a woman beneath her lover's touch.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpFgiyTO7e
Music is happy and pitiless when56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzChjBLtCl
it sets fire to combustible souls. Even56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5Fbukq2P5
the raspy bandoneon's voice is lyric.
IV. 56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxbpt7y5GG
Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. (Speak56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9H80kkR05
in a whisper.) We slip into this56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOIgyQpY0Gb
space half cognizant. The land is very56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePKlxFS3Ho
large indeed: bones of the earth56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4hXyAToKuG
worn down, though she is a living thing.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQpjTATC77
See how she exposes her grace? Antelopes56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3ECpCE97W
graze on the far plain—their high,56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7Tk1PJpOh
white tails—the red soil throbs56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfWbK9hMwH
its slow heartbeat, and the blue sky56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Cxc0RWrAp
clears so smartly, perfectly, like56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQTTFkiRlV
radiance. Are the ancestors near?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdoRMtXBNh
What can we know? We decide56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrDxkEiMutP
to wander around this prairie, mistaken56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmcrZ3aMZ1
for Utes, buy commodities in little towns.
V.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDnAHCOFLy
Late afternoon we head west along the willow- banked56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbey4OSWbr
Malheur after the long curve of the Snake River plain. (Above the falls where the Shoshone went to pray56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYHupu0kBj
we soaked our feet in cold water, and I observed56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTppybdeiY1
the arch of her brown foot.) Rabbitbrush and sage56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMe9wqyRU8
along the highway, juniper on far hills and bluffs.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxCwzvrQuS
Sundown, and dusk falls over the wide basin of land.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwxYVlTOZC
In Burns we eat eggs in a cafe, take a room56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qVaheRJ4J
in the Motel 6. In the dark, I can see56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01OhnWfHjg
her black hair, black against the pillows. Its clean56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCWq2Z8ibT
scent makes me think of corn. At dawn, I hold her56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbauiMMelQ
and there are kisses. Then more kisses. Then more56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsAkZALVJL
The day is cold; a north wind blew last night. But56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdh20hP6sJx
the land is open. Rain falls in showers of light.
VI. 56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXmdcMVcZv
Her hand on my thigh, my shoulder,56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdcMe8H2UE
in my hair. She leans over to kiss my cheek.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFw43egN6Og
We look at each other, smile. For miles56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXRJZRrhV3
we travel this way, nearly silent, point56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqERJ6GusrJ
with eyes or chins at the circling hawk, the king-56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuc71SJ7rPa
fisher on the snag above the swollen56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wXf2u9pOc
creek. One night I weep in her arms56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIF0ftl1YM
as she cries, "Oh, oh, oh!" because I have touched56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DfRf82Hox
her scars lightly: throat, belly, breasts.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrSpiGscUo
In that communion of lovers, thick sobs56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyhfFIIizu
break from me as I think of my love56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYNII3Yv2P
back home, all that I have done56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16uFpTNj0A
and cannot say. This is the first time56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tny5aMHn4
I have left her so completely, so alone.
- Janice Gould
56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZWUSyTifvi
and then Add to home screen.