I. 102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawLaxUs1va
Desert heat, high clouds, and sky102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNugwhSN0V
the color of lapis. On this journey,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjC6y7Sfo4
anything seems possible,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkctDKnIIrE
so we stop by an ancient cottonwood102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDHGABx2ev
to kiss. The beauty trembles,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0MxV2wiyE
doesn't say a word, just watches102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6QexaePc0
me, so open. Small birds fly by, flock102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8MBLIaWlC
in the shady tree above us. What102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntB8rmghNO
settles in her heart? What congeals?102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jbhbF0P1i
Hope? Despair? Far off, the river churns102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Am1eQbMak
in its sandy banks, swallows veer, turn102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDllomr6zhF
in fiery air. Will these kisses seal102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEw6UL8KV2
her to me? I her lover, she my wife?102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLVEdaaibE
Is all of this a dream, my whole life?
II. 102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUarrCSTFGJ
She is just this side of wonderful,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJnQUXzt2Zv
and suddenly the glamorous world102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvanoTgQhT
fills itself with shining and we laugh102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIlCxSQh2B
at highway monuments that explain102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooJZoTEm2K
how hard the trek had been for Franciscans102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqIBEaTHUe
in the Indian wilderness, poor fellows—102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXdwcglYiF
conversion is the devil's own102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoqUVoNZWg
work! Then the stones of her dream102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ20INNerYf
turn up under her feet, the back102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68dq7mc58r
of a huge land turtle. I know102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQSl3gLc75
we must be circling Paradise102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDi4m9RFyc
because the ants enter the fleshy petals102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpeKiUeONn2
of the roadside flowers with evident102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUiWAAX5wV
joy and purpose (oh, my dark, pretty one).
III. 102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKEIKA2GJfN
Music, my adored. When is there never102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOsH75femY
music? My accordion puffs up102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCdy7nDheTl
with drinkable melodies. I spill102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRbsDJlTwJS
her tunes into your listening ear,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMAhCDOpUY
one after the other: the squeeze-box102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡShXyEyqB1n
enters the dance of the plaintive gypsy102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBcOBdp0Vj8
with its hard rhythms, lilts the back-102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡguhftsbHGW
breaking labor song the worker croons102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBcmphlFw4
to earth, warbles romantic notes of102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ848V8ANzqu
dissolving borders. You melt102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVkH88B7bM
like a woman beneath her lover's touch.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrYDl7gncL
Music is happy and pitiless when102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDAJCiZTvJ
it sets fire to combustible souls. Even102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbiJNZfGutI
the raspy bandoneon's voice is lyric.
IV. 102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZGPJgVQUr
Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. (Speak102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcIxwqe0sPN
in a whisper.) We slip into this102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRZSCNl9NF
space half cognizant. The land is very102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5DoXVyPwf
large indeed: bones of the earth102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OUlfg7mI9
worn down, though she is a living thing.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5eXNq8sVT
See how she exposes her grace? Antelopes102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDrnEmnEaM
graze on the far plain—their high,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2clw8wcIjW
white tails—the red soil throbs102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncQmH35EZk
its slow heartbeat, and the blue sky102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBESbeS78LY
clears so smartly, perfectly, like102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmhn2Tlp9h
radiance. Are the ancestors near?102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnfUMFGv7v
What can we know? We decide102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfFh5MCWGpp
to wander around this prairie, mistaken102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyMHLyOLOy
for Utes, buy commodities in little towns.
V.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FeXeaBHkm
Late afternoon we head west along the willow- banked102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBDb8STAGs
Malheur after the long curve of the Snake River plain. (Above the falls where the Shoshone went to pray102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgsfX1iU1v
we soaked our feet in cold water, and I observed102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX08DYe0LNS
the arch of her brown foot.) Rabbitbrush and sage102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDPSsD9T3H
along the highway, juniper on far hills and bluffs.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7pTtDhO1ZY
Sundown, and dusk falls over the wide basin of land.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MQY8ZUTSf
In Burns we eat eggs in a cafe, take a room102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNA1fIK2Iir
in the Motel 6. In the dark, I can see102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDp6aq1bZD
her black hair, black against the pillows. Its clean102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEObhXjjfsq
scent makes me think of corn. At dawn, I hold her102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7e2KoAiJV
and there are kisses. Then more kisses. Then more102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYLW4NrqxO
The day is cold; a north wind blew last night. But102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cC5Ah3Pi0
the land is open. Rain falls in showers of light.
VI. 102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcOlK4IVHiL
Her hand on my thigh, my shoulder,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcac3jSnzTC
in my hair. She leans over to kiss my cheek.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Knt2SUT01
We look at each other, smile. For miles102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnGToVEzJG
we travel this way, nearly silent, point102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkVi525dR0
with eyes or chins at the circling hawk, the king-102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS930HUfoR5
fisher on the snag above the swollen102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzly4I5muSS
creek. One night I weep in her arms102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFMmG4tmAE
as she cries, "Oh, oh, oh!" because I have touched102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TbfviFjcJ
her scars lightly: throat, belly, breasts.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRwOK9ifHC
In that communion of lovers, thick sobs102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekwX17DOO7
break from me as I think of my love102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5sE5tqUG5h
back home, all that I have done102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3WaLtUm9TL
and cannot say. This is the first time102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4AfYRK40GW
I have left her so completely, so alone.
- Janice Gould
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTntrqWKuJj
and then Add to home screen.