I. 335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43ac8gk7iF
Desert heat, high clouds, and sky335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEWd9g1scb
the color of lapis. On this journey,335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2JUbwlPhu
anything seems possible,335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskm2TnFLtA
so we stop by an ancient cottonwood335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9hWofzRk4
to kiss. The beauty trembles,335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNhx90ByDf
doesn't say a word, just watches335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25AyJl1WxP
me, so open. Small birds fly by, flock335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmH6gK867rL
in the shady tree above us. What335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4IAHV0aaV
settles in her heart? What congeals?335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOnclMMCuS
Hope? Despair? Far off, the river churns335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0lpVj2icC
in its sandy banks, swallows veer, turn335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡteADL33mVX
in fiery air. Will these kisses seal335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hZK64sHz4
her to me? I her lover, she my wife?335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvg7T4defrD
Is all of this a dream, my whole life?
II. 335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQZ2bgAPNnH
She is just this side of wonderful,335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgs7bQIjoVA
and suddenly the glamorous world335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoabQLXEuB
fills itself with shining and we laugh335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOHR28RDOf
at highway monuments that explain335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtejsmQdaBC
how hard the trek had been for Franciscans335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTIaVbPPJ9
in the Indian wilderness, poor fellows—335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Ydp6ejrKu
conversion is the devil's own335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3yWoYMnJq
work! Then the stones of her dream335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIqmfGpNyxY
turn up under her feet, the back335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0zlvLYFyH
of a huge land turtle. I know335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGgGU5KmpJ
we must be circling Paradise335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47mGCBiNFV
because the ants enter the fleshy petals335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgg7umTgbU
of the roadside flowers with evident335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88Ku8yuWZM
joy and purpose (oh, my dark, pretty one).
III. 335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwkPk5X92Y
Music, my adored. When is there never335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAqTAQO7iIe
music? My accordion puffs up335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡad5rMPxcRv
with drinkable melodies. I spill335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFuBvxgDvb
her tunes into your listening ear,335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1oegumCmg
one after the other: the squeeze-box335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmCZvUkWqeL
enters the dance of the plaintive gypsy335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzZ6EuF9Ex7
with its hard rhythms, lilts the back-335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6qWN8QIIY
breaking labor song the worker croons335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHElUyyot3K
to earth, warbles romantic notes of335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbpGqxJrc1
dissolving borders. You melt335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPNUOSLLZE
like a woman beneath her lover's touch.335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4dgiOzsyZ
Music is happy and pitiless when335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1b3edKTEIu
it sets fire to combustible souls. Even335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1YQTi3LKw
the raspy bandoneon's voice is lyric.
IV. 335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceeVWGfgbV
Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. (Speak335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg9uuhUvbpC
in a whisper.) We slip into this335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUkB46w0PT
space half cognizant. The land is very335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUVKDOcfDgx
large indeed: bones of the earth335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpuigEiKXGH
worn down, though she is a living thing.335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoEw17lM8t
See how she exposes her grace? Antelopes335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDFPpdqhwA
graze on the far plain—their high,335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4cQWAVK2sp
white tails—the red soil throbs335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKL9ZvFhZWF
its slow heartbeat, and the blue sky335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡleyCy56SSE
clears so smartly, perfectly, like335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQRqnPyLasn
radiance. Are the ancestors near?335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91ejesHqap
What can we know? We decide335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PMT5FvlAj
to wander around this prairie, mistaken335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRMmnurzQUG
for Utes, buy commodities in little towns.
V.335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiwdvpX6VE6
Late afternoon we head west along the willow- banked335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHRdefXYc1
Malheur after the long curve of the Snake River plain. (Above the falls where the Shoshone went to pray335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfTyqf7oPQ
we soaked our feet in cold water, and I observed335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWwHAhAhMZ
the arch of her brown foot.) Rabbitbrush and sage335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5K8gOZHfq8
along the highway, juniper on far hills and bluffs.335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfPRh4TWUK
Sundown, and dusk falls over the wide basin of land.335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHyEtzqjovs
In Burns we eat eggs in a cafe, take a room335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3XWrqvolC
in the Motel 6. In the dark, I can see335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhnw6tB7k0
her black hair, black against the pillows. Its clean335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmQ0RxhdiS
scent makes me think of corn. At dawn, I hold her335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CFT0nGin3
and there are kisses. Then more kisses. Then more335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpaZMvjsPr
The day is cold; a north wind blew last night. But335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8L3Z1bXPuh
the land is open. Rain falls in showers of light.
VI. 335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf93ttOusph
Her hand on my thigh, my shoulder,335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DhCU0sHjl
in my hair. She leans over to kiss my cheek.335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEMtjcDjFY
We look at each other, smile. For miles335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBCL4OOnw5
we travel this way, nearly silent, point335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOn0pMiAVE
with eyes or chins at the circling hawk, the king-335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0GAVMD3ylS
fisher on the snag above the swollen335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCBHRPO4HN
creek. One night I weep in her arms335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PpPJHJu7i
as she cries, "Oh, oh, oh!" because I have touched335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpRniFpJ5X
her scars lightly: throat, belly, breasts.335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡADd6hm3Gas
In that communion of lovers, thick sobs335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Iz4AiVLEo
break from me as I think of my love335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVs2iTYRdnw
back home, all that I have done335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDlhBRpGnW
and cannot say. This is the first time335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7LVPLKS6CU
I have left her so completely, so alone.
- Janice Gould
335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXj2jfAKgLl
and then Add to home screen.