I. 368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaI8hOoJlej
Desert heat, high clouds, and sky368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXlKMI4EpUN
the color of lapis. On this journey,368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvegNyBDX5
anything seems possible,368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEhyzdH7V4
so we stop by an ancient cottonwood368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJ4nSXSaKl
to kiss. The beauty trembles,368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpx92D9SU1J
doesn't say a word, just watches368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUF8vq5NLaM
me, so open. Small birds fly by, flock368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJJRtfLlyr
in the shady tree above us. What368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStNmMsOw7A
settles in her heart? What congeals?368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vl0F7KYHp
Hope? Despair? Far off, the river churns368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4iFxqrwe7x
in its sandy banks, swallows veer, turn368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQcQo8tvAF
in fiery air. Will these kisses seal368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1VFPYzWx3
her to me? I her lover, she my wife?368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHSVndE7QZ
Is all of this a dream, my whole life?
II. 368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnI6wziEvP
She is just this side of wonderful,368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioNy6Mim6u
and suddenly the glamorous world368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFadM4f8lPu
fills itself with shining and we laugh368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYvH8uuLxy
at highway monuments that explain368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dTRehPVoS
how hard the trek had been for Franciscans368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSq6T6NgLCE
in the Indian wilderness, poor fellows—368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmHogIc6UsF
conversion is the devil's own368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhyXa3ti5X
work! Then the stones of her dream368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfPIcGBWZh
turn up under her feet, the back368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9R8taGIXM
of a huge land turtle. I know368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxXiERtX2Q1
we must be circling Paradise368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zlcC2FWGU
because the ants enter the fleshy petals368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkGUSuYzch
of the roadside flowers with evident368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvZdQUXpLN
joy and purpose (oh, my dark, pretty one).
III. 368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgi6t4iY8JG
Music, my adored. When is there never368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vCfyVAzei
music? My accordion puffs up368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZqpaRzZwB
with drinkable melodies. I spill368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FpzvlO7Be
her tunes into your listening ear,368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAHeWN3SlF
one after the other: the squeeze-box368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYtPqobTE4
enters the dance of the plaintive gypsy368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVGvOMAgiN
with its hard rhythms, lilts the back-368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeMKgqcHkB
breaking labor song the worker croons368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWiZeeHosqo
to earth, warbles romantic notes of368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLt3xffsQi
dissolving borders. You melt368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2x6I4Ji0ny
like a woman beneath her lover's touch.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMrdUg8DrA
Music is happy and pitiless when368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxQvKLBxQL
it sets fire to combustible souls. Even368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RJlrKhKwQ
the raspy bandoneon's voice is lyric.
IV. 368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIIJiRm6ZUK
Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. (Speak368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxXH1RlIn8Z
in a whisper.) We slip into this368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILh7FQISCZ
space half cognizant. The land is very368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61ztp1RX6x
large indeed: bones of the earth368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa63TkYL1om
worn down, though she is a living thing.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVfmpDXUKU
See how she exposes her grace? Antelopes368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrWG9jYvIV
graze on the far plain—their high,368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyiDw3dEAwC
white tails—the red soil throbs368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa4oIlzn8YX
its slow heartbeat, and the blue sky368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGf796Pn9V6
clears so smartly, perfectly, like368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxpSWOTXlx
radiance. Are the ancestors near?368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTH8WxjutM
What can we know? We decide368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLmJkaQNCE
to wander around this prairie, mistaken368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAsvwAkpXk4
for Utes, buy commodities in little towns.
V.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LTnbUgwks
Late afternoon we head west along the willow- banked368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0P5pnwqdse
Malheur after the long curve of the Snake River plain. (Above the falls where the Shoshone went to pray368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkW9ttmwXZ
we soaked our feet in cold water, and I observed368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3f2OLLW7p
the arch of her brown foot.) Rabbitbrush and sage368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzb18iKzUGD
along the highway, juniper on far hills and bluffs.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPh59Sj4OG
Sundown, and dusk falls over the wide basin of land.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡriz8KSwZDa
In Burns we eat eggs in a cafe, take a room368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE75yZz0VXY
in the Motel 6. In the dark, I can see368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidfe3ojoDe
her black hair, black against the pillows. Its clean368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HyMgNNL6i
scent makes me think of corn. At dawn, I hold her368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuyEUskoVGp
and there are kisses. Then more kisses. Then more368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIk0aII8fJ
The day is cold; a north wind blew last night. But368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LT5mESnwQ
the land is open. Rain falls in showers of light.
VI. 368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFq6Pl0xV1
Her hand on my thigh, my shoulder,368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Yx9qPhu3z
in my hair. She leans over to kiss my cheek.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVvc1xCXTmH
We look at each other, smile. For miles368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2FCP3lhPO
we travel this way, nearly silent, point368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eZeKc9CPi
with eyes or chins at the circling hawk, the king-368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZIXcBPnT7
fisher on the snag above the swollen368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVxQb8Lzh0
creek. One night I weep in her arms368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpN6hiRhOwk
as she cries, "Oh, oh, oh!" because I have touched368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQj3sZyTfa
her scars lightly: throat, belly, breasts.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHCcdF70nV
In that communion of lovers, thick sobs368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8RtfNSLruw
break from me as I think of my love368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeD1b8YvKix
back home, all that I have done368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUseJkI99tV
and cannot say. This is the first time368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRy45OF1rm
I have left her so completely, so alone.
- Janice Gould
368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT9vHqzQNJP
and then Add to home screen.