I. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPiuM5JYkP
Desert heat, high clouds, and sky251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKC55qKIwKF
the color of lapis. On this journey,251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0onsSCO4Wq
anything seems possible,251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0cCnPqyqT
so we stop by an ancient cottonwood251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oBucrFh0E
to kiss. The beauty trembles,251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfZbuF6SiI
doesn't say a word, just watches251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TjJeIpXRP
me, so open. Small birds fly by, flock251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJGcCSUDHv
in the shady tree above us. What251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlffrDYGaD6
settles in her heart? What congeals?251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSvN1KF9Q8
Hope? Despair? Far off, the river churns251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpN0kahiOwg
in its sandy banks, swallows veer, turn251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgN7boRqiNN
in fiery air. Will these kisses seal251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5yUnthJXrb
her to me? I her lover, she my wife?251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfYra4jcOa
Is all of this a dream, my whole life?
II. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xyDUS6RfV
She is just this side of wonderful,251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVa1CX4v8VD
and suddenly the glamorous world251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiywdj5j0p8
fills itself with shining and we laugh251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdpuR0HDv4
at highway monuments that explain251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBk4OTV0ZnH
how hard the trek had been for Franciscans251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHBBQYaBPi
in the Indian wilderness, poor fellows—251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmBhXvVkxO
conversion is the devil's own251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXP22Sq4Ft
work! Then the stones of her dream251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJU2EqAZdK7
turn up under her feet, the back251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtpzPRONlZ
of a huge land turtle. I know251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXjt9JnwLV
we must be circling Paradise251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivPbC5DNbf
because the ants enter the fleshy petals251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHT7Gosfjr
of the roadside flowers with evident251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHBm7ATGSt
joy and purpose (oh, my dark, pretty one).
III. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzENIi0KQ5B
Music, my adored. When is there never251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jXtiA7iUW
music? My accordion puffs up251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡked929LaJF
with drinkable melodies. I spill251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31W39V5Xnl
her tunes into your listening ear,251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPzebyblns
one after the other: the squeeze-box251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDpKqmMwFf
enters the dance of the plaintive gypsy251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDA7vp6906Q
with its hard rhythms, lilts the back-251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGuksDod5aw
breaking labor song the worker croons251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXz66NoZFI
to earth, warbles romantic notes of251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jqZjKochR
dissolving borders. You melt251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7kMXdozhW
like a woman beneath her lover's touch.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjXMx8pRYf
Music is happy and pitiless when251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KL7EypruJ
it sets fire to combustible souls. Even251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19GcZDQhpJ
the raspy bandoneon's voice is lyric.
IV. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVXWFD4lRb
Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. (Speak251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFCY2rQNiP
in a whisper.) We slip into this251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw28u2nlkLB
space half cognizant. The land is very251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5HklSFUTA
large indeed: bones of the earth251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bGgZQzdEE
worn down, though she is a living thing.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVgYKtuZ3a
See how she exposes her grace? Antelopes251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCB5VDa8hkW
graze on the far plain—their high,251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMI97OBLblM
white tails—the red soil throbs251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtLft8Hpqr
its slow heartbeat, and the blue sky251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVk25t3IlD
clears so smartly, perfectly, like251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL6XuoMtW2u
radiance. Are the ancestors near?251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbAuFvRXen
What can we know? We decide251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsKZMSNnSr
to wander around this prairie, mistaken251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsD52j9TUE
for Utes, buy commodities in little towns.
V.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpiE4b4Dfb
Late afternoon we head west along the willow- banked251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2M1PP6ngnV
Malheur after the long curve of the Snake River plain. (Above the falls where the Shoshone went to pray251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5SSAFcXTF
we soaked our feet in cold water, and I observed251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zGa7GOq62
the arch of her brown foot.) Rabbitbrush and sage251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS38YbJFBZV
along the highway, juniper on far hills and bluffs.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIIvWsWlhi
Sundown, and dusk falls over the wide basin of land.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirjmfd6htY
In Burns we eat eggs in a cafe, take a room251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8lAiAcwrk
in the Motel 6. In the dark, I can see251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAiMUfZnwq
her black hair, black against the pillows. Its clean251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUP0Ra3j9kM
scent makes me think of corn. At dawn, I hold her251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEzMsfM7EG
and there are kisses. Then more kisses. Then more251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXnynxSZDUL
The day is cold; a north wind blew last night. But251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzrbgMAcWh
the land is open. Rain falls in showers of light.
VI. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87gvDvaj7L
Her hand on my thigh, my shoulder,251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArWpNeTuu2
in my hair. She leans over to kiss my cheek.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJKMxzfu4U
We look at each other, smile. For miles251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fC1cl3VGj
we travel this way, nearly silent, point251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrqOKxkZSV
with eyes or chins at the circling hawk, the king-251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3RFb90W3U
fisher on the snag above the swollen251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsOSrtXkz2
creek. One night I weep in her arms251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GcyVjjNyK
as she cries, "Oh, oh, oh!" because I have touched251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsu8ft1elT3
her scars lightly: throat, belly, breasts.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4njkTMcyx
In that communion of lovers, thick sobs251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKoHsyAUxS
break from me as I think of my love251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YVeTv2845
back home, all that I have done251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRvzPqiOA0
and cannot say. This is the first time251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHgROiEnUR
I have left her so completely, so alone.
- Janice Gould
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXqeLNl47f
and then Add to home screen.