I. 26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5Xa4jj1cJ
Desert heat, high clouds, and sky26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFMymPtlfy8
the color of lapis. On this journey,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhI9zW7FNz6
anything seems possible,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrk9klcvvEE
so we stop by an ancient cottonwood26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3YjIQ9tck
to kiss. The beauty trembles,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzD55Hm6vs
doesn't say a word, just watches26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBb0jl0Zrq
me, so open. Small birds fly by, flock26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7yGN7VMms
in the shady tree above us. What26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvzM0m9EuT
settles in her heart? What congeals?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZvbv5nh6B
Hope? Despair? Far off, the river churns26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBA1i86FN3V
in its sandy banks, swallows veer, turn26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6eioCJgzB
in fiery air. Will these kisses seal26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTDm5ErU1e
her to me? I her lover, she my wife?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebMDJXKpZ8
Is all of this a dream, my whole life?
II. 26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRs2FAPlgkD
She is just this side of wonderful,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ582Vrvx5gB
and suddenly the glamorous world26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUyZMHdyk5
fills itself with shining and we laugh26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQZvJQq3vY
at highway monuments that explain26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKeZBfPl67
how hard the trek had been for Franciscans26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshLRkd8T62
in the Indian wilderness, poor fellows—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCIojZKsPF
conversion is the devil's own26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxhTpn4usn
work! Then the stones of her dream26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡub4g9d8DfB
turn up under her feet, the back26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItzAd6ZZ1U
of a huge land turtle. I know26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDeI39qQnV
we must be circling Paradise26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1falMvZO6
because the ants enter the fleshy petals26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC63aAeioWV
of the roadside flowers with evident26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK24gcSw0zp
joy and purpose (oh, my dark, pretty one).
III. 26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxmwJrfmNg
Music, my adored. When is there never26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68lThWpHhz
music? My accordion puffs up26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZltygj83E
with drinkable melodies. I spill26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskDMjKwrLj
her tunes into your listening ear,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHlGYr8gvK
one after the other: the squeeze-box26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPusBsssbt
enters the dance of the plaintive gypsy26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡauUTqvw2M9
with its hard rhythms, lilts the back-26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3nbj4B91N0
breaking labor song the worker croons26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpadBr1p50L
to earth, warbles romantic notes of26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8QS5NnYGn
dissolving borders. You melt26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRSxp4ON7C
like a woman beneath her lover's touch.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9ecvAkgYi
Music is happy and pitiless when26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0axfYWq0K
it sets fire to combustible souls. Even26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8sU8eDutL
the raspy bandoneon's voice is lyric.
IV. 26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HlTJvdr2q
Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. (Speak26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGxiHDBzRs
in a whisper.) We slip into this26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWmKY7uM3cb
space half cognizant. The land is very26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpQLy4ootP
large indeed: bones of the earth26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvorQkgL67k
worn down, though she is a living thing.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAe11E02lpf
See how she exposes her grace? Antelopes26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvu4piR3GrB
graze on the far plain—their high,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrjeLbyTZr
white tails—the red soil throbs26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgeMgWPRqv8
its slow heartbeat, and the blue sky26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9S3RTs2g1
clears so smartly, perfectly, like26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzxNXCKpsN
radiance. Are the ancestors near?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDiHrcW1akP
What can we know? We decide26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqUtO7u9dC
to wander around this prairie, mistaken26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9EZJqtCYt
for Utes, buy commodities in little towns.
V.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfuMz9yFWtT
Late afternoon we head west along the willow- banked26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZgBW9fdAv
Malheur after the long curve of the Snake River plain. (Above the falls where the Shoshone went to pray26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBfFCIhsOc
we soaked our feet in cold water, and I observed26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVI6sdptVi
the arch of her brown foot.) Rabbitbrush and sage26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJyPQzYhzO
along the highway, juniper on far hills and bluffs.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxGJ4ot8lY
Sundown, and dusk falls over the wide basin of land.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu9ObIMuyR1
In Burns we eat eggs in a cafe, take a room26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoVuCXt9gT
in the Motel 6. In the dark, I can see26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12rx0U0Qj5
her black hair, black against the pillows. Its clean26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRumjccj1e
scent makes me think of corn. At dawn, I hold her26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNFzFTXYQe
and there are kisses. Then more kisses. Then more26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7jdvQpb6V
The day is cold; a north wind blew last night. But26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2r8e7p5Zsa
the land is open. Rain falls in showers of light.
VI. 26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmtGMrJrTj
Her hand on my thigh, my shoulder,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3usore5yA
in my hair. She leans over to kiss my cheek.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32IyhJohFW
We look at each other, smile. For miles26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVhSRZVcfy
we travel this way, nearly silent, point26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVAUXHiMuNW
with eyes or chins at the circling hawk, the king-26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolcj5JDKyv
fisher on the snag above the swollen26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ASVEET7SH
creek. One night I weep in her arms26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzch51Dll7t
as she cries, "Oh, oh, oh!" because I have touched26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZeYRm9hhH
her scars lightly: throat, belly, breasts.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQAmxRtZdHk
In that communion of lovers, thick sobs26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoV637Te6dG
break from me as I think of my love26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqAFfGBnsV
back home, all that I have done26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0nwVidLyI
and cannot say. This is the first time26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyx8KTMdbXa
I have left her so completely, so alone.
- Janice Gould
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQPcjBNI7q
and then Add to home screen.