I. 57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3KAwYJwPDC
Desert heat, high clouds, and sky57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1yQuijbTGx
the color of lapis. On this journey,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF76pbXUJdL
anything seems possible,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduDWuNFMZC
so we stop by an ancient cottonwood57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUi09r1kbC3
to kiss. The beauty trembles,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAl2lIHCY1j
doesn't say a word, just watches57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡprHRYfbvlE
me, so open. Small birds fly by, flock57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqTau7ekZH
in the shady tree above us. What57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHtwZW4TNOz
settles in her heart? What congeals?57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcGhqHCgEc
Hope? Despair? Far off, the river churns57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sREQ7Gi7t
in its sandy banks, swallows veer, turn57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKL7LkWbQv6
in fiery air. Will these kisses seal57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKTqFowuRJ
her to me? I her lover, she my wife?57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0rm1TPhQ6
Is all of this a dream, my whole life?
II. 57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa4IOARw8yH
She is just this side of wonderful,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvGswcIA54
and suddenly the glamorous world57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYas7KntVSA
fills itself with shining and we laugh57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Uv2dcv03S
at highway monuments that explain57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7ddgP1XGN
how hard the trek had been for Franciscans57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKf1ZxIBXDf
in the Indian wilderness, poor fellows—57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7tZwNXIIk
conversion is the devil's own57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5D9855p24
work! Then the stones of her dream57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzbGJf4QYt
turn up under her feet, the back57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz368woNNiw
of a huge land turtle. I know57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UsSpsYMNd
we must be circling Paradise57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu8JVkDo7wr
because the ants enter the fleshy petals57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6wtU5Zeuj
of the roadside flowers with evident57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhoLLjhciu
joy and purpose (oh, my dark, pretty one).
III. 57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgixFQfBnz
Music, my adored. When is there never57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfwioq9c6e
music? My accordion puffs up57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgPgACgjbc
with drinkable melodies. I spill57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSRXhSnuxo
her tunes into your listening ear,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfnqgEt3fbJ
one after the other: the squeeze-box57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOWgqELwl6
enters the dance of the plaintive gypsy57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY0esvAMmsr
with its hard rhythms, lilts the back-57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPEiyMXdlDm
breaking labor song the worker croons57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ51Dnk84yso
to earth, warbles romantic notes of57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hnQRkx506
dissolving borders. You melt57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4hVXNP0C7l
like a woman beneath her lover's touch.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiDeiNXjn3
Music is happy and pitiless when57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPwBlJh5mC
it sets fire to combustible souls. Even57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojBKp7sJ8K
the raspy bandoneon's voice is lyric.
IV. 57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNK3D9An0kb
Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. (Speak57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwZMgq0Pbx
in a whisper.) We slip into this57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpLFoAZOYc
space half cognizant. The land is very57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4UbutMOzB
large indeed: bones of the earth57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3jnJy5cU5
worn down, though she is a living thing.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXNUonu4Ts
See how she exposes her grace? Antelopes57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgekGSIJ6St
graze on the far plain—their high,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeT9XA5jTuh
white tails—the red soil throbs57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IDi07dctq
its slow heartbeat, and the blue sky57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWRDzg549x
clears so smartly, perfectly, like57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGRY55uFlr
radiance. Are the ancestors near?57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJprn82QL2
What can we know? We decide57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6S1UJtLpO
to wander around this prairie, mistaken57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXrSn9n16m
for Utes, buy commodities in little towns.
V.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKdaiI3dgI
Late afternoon we head west along the willow- banked57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXnJVvViBQo
Malheur after the long curve of the Snake River plain. (Above the falls where the Shoshone went to pray57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQVCsNczzo
we soaked our feet in cold water, and I observed57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9p83CQ8aH
the arch of her brown foot.) Rabbitbrush and sage57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBw811DFEZh
along the highway, juniper on far hills and bluffs.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPV29ZxRBUa
Sundown, and dusk falls over the wide basin of land.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRtTG28lUbd
In Burns we eat eggs in a cafe, take a room57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnjAqxFX3f
in the Motel 6. In the dark, I can see57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeIPgK5RycZ
her black hair, black against the pillows. Its clean57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRiblZhH0q
scent makes me think of corn. At dawn, I hold her57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7gGOPijJd
and there are kisses. Then more kisses. Then more57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8uDVUUoi0
The day is cold; a north wind blew last night. But57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7858PgLuXL
the land is open. Rain falls in showers of light.
VI. 57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWH7AeExIu
Her hand on my thigh, my shoulder,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYHLiQIdUg
in my hair. She leans over to kiss my cheek.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQoR1Wg1kSo
We look at each other, smile. For miles57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1I6UKhsQm
we travel this way, nearly silent, point57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEduQbBdzjN
with eyes or chins at the circling hawk, the king-57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPSl2oQ33oV
fisher on the snag above the swollen57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpPRpCsN50
creek. One night I weep in her arms57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2ME0zqevO
as she cries, "Oh, oh, oh!" because I have touched57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwH5a789kr
her scars lightly: throat, belly, breasts.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3JZRJKC4c
In that communion of lovers, thick sobs57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6mtyt3qDJ
break from me as I think of my love57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWThSSiXrqC
back home, all that I have done57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYwPXZOUVB
and cannot say. This is the first time57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBW8yG58CZr
I have left her so completely, so alone.
- Janice Gould
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkh8q1xgFBY
and then Add to home screen.