I. 209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJLCsf9OTL
Desert heat, high clouds, and sky209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnNTxLMM26
the color of lapis. On this journey,209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnRlMv0Grv
anything seems possible,209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYOYqiMXe0N
so we stop by an ancient cottonwood209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpRNbB8ByW
to kiss. The beauty trembles,209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7PcTh3NJY
doesn't say a word, just watches209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZWO30b7PG
me, so open. Small birds fly by, flock209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zHZ6Lzwc7
in the shady tree above us. What209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeKM3JlPqZ
settles in her heart? What congeals?209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5xtWLkNYp
Hope? Despair? Far off, the river churns209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdNeJyTWTb
in its sandy banks, swallows veer, turn209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39c8mgI6pV
in fiery air. Will these kisses seal209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgft3JVn9ou
her to me? I her lover, she my wife?209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7DVnDbTBB
Is all of this a dream, my whole life?
II. 209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn74QXnk7Zl
She is just this side of wonderful,209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAam31U2si2
and suddenly the glamorous world209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKeHusiNDO
fills itself with shining and we laugh209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnNz5dRwZ7
at highway monuments that explain209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8jVSvDwbmF
how hard the trek had been for Franciscans209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXVK7kveUY
in the Indian wilderness, poor fellows—209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8wEfFgsIM
conversion is the devil's own209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfBhHxN1DK
work! Then the stones of her dream209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoj0kjETR1t
turn up under her feet, the back209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3QFbAh4ROR
of a huge land turtle. I know209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNn4fpvoRQ
we must be circling Paradise209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLhcfjTlOD
because the ants enter the fleshy petals209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJlLvmAfBOP
of the roadside flowers with evident209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXJdG6np5M
joy and purpose (oh, my dark, pretty one).
III. 209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApbBonklhi
Music, my adored. When is there never209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFweVSOpBV6
music? My accordion puffs up209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVqjQLI7gN
with drinkable melodies. I spill209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKVbUdYUTs
her tunes into your listening ear,209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65VUqRD0Er
one after the other: the squeeze-box209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErsQ5whj1c
enters the dance of the plaintive gypsy209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMDr9kXGO5
with its hard rhythms, lilts the back-209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxzgN2xT9S
breaking labor song the worker croons209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡseEksMq0jn
to earth, warbles romantic notes of209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2nnUEeD8Bi
dissolving borders. You melt209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxnFeGD08p
like a woman beneath her lover's touch.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSP2fKm7J3J
Music is happy and pitiless when209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlaavxEMEp
it sets fire to combustible souls. Even209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqrFZ5ejRM
the raspy bandoneon's voice is lyric.
IV. 209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kp9Te2X50
Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. (Speak209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGpHlQY8gOd
in a whisper.) We slip into this209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6GN7bozrZL
space half cognizant. The land is very209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULG2v91tXB
large indeed: bones of the earth209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdPb89ca18
worn down, though she is a living thing.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzZ0fvj6Zfh
See how she exposes her grace? Antelopes209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8rCmQhBDhB
graze on the far plain—their high,209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8umX7l4km
white tails—the red soil throbs209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUn8cUZ9JE
its slow heartbeat, and the blue sky209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScgf3LKe3e
clears so smartly, perfectly, like209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSvRnNu3Yle
radiance. Are the ancestors near?209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpe9VpEtAH
What can we know? We decide209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScDdDUBpdh
to wander around this prairie, mistaken209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ40HqIxSeAs
for Utes, buy commodities in little towns.
V.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKHIJjIEy8s
Late afternoon we head west along the willow- banked209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCA394KThY
Malheur after the long curve of the Snake River plain. (Above the falls where the Shoshone went to pray209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbGN2YlFC8
we soaked our feet in cold water, and I observed209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fQ7iuSLYk
the arch of her brown foot.) Rabbitbrush and sage209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQm8R75JLmT
along the highway, juniper on far hills and bluffs.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5L9IOcWIou
Sundown, and dusk falls over the wide basin of land.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8vr9jM6mba
In Burns we eat eggs in a cafe, take a room209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChQ6M5d7T1
in the Motel 6. In the dark, I can see209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHX97n7SAp0
her black hair, black against the pillows. Its clean209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaofpiaPeRc
scent makes me think of corn. At dawn, I hold her209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPOeozELMRG
and there are kisses. Then more kisses. Then more209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUbr9xqMGl
The day is cold; a north wind blew last night. But209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtP39tTntjg
the land is open. Rain falls in showers of light.
VI. 209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrmxvVUORJ
Her hand on my thigh, my shoulder,209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILfMsHamNJ
in my hair. She leans over to kiss my cheek.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6lS970fIG
We look at each other, smile. For miles209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1AnCQM5zac
we travel this way, nearly silent, point209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZsqMHIkcL
with eyes or chins at the circling hawk, the king-209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7099X5ouU
fisher on the snag above the swollen209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDiyDxy2KF
creek. One night I weep in her arms209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9gua9zpV6
as she cries, "Oh, oh, oh!" because I have touched209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoe99eW5wWF
her scars lightly: throat, belly, breasts.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBz8vNW7ug
In that communion of lovers, thick sobs209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKNAXthP1HW
break from me as I think of my love209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykVZVAqKUW
back home, all that I have done209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8EdFc0JoR
and cannot say. This is the first time209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbpkRxxhEG
I have left her so completely, so alone.
- Janice Gould
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlR39wTHGim
and then Add to home screen.