I. 15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2TdwoZpne
Desert heat, high clouds, and sky15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUr3IClbSb
the color of lapis. On this journey,15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvXsUaBTnw
anything seems possible,15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyTD5xjWeV
so we stop by an ancient cottonwood15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTwLlUERlR
to kiss. The beauty trembles,15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0cUxkyRRG
doesn't say a word, just watches15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYBW0MCR7O
me, so open. Small birds fly by, flock15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4XaL87VtT
in the shady tree above us. What15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdXlgjWpzt
settles in her heart? What congeals?15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGkK3Kv6fP
Hope? Despair? Far off, the river churns15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNadGCON61a
in its sandy banks, swallows veer, turn15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQy1dBpYB2B
in fiery air. Will these kisses seal15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYldSXXXsOP
her to me? I her lover, she my wife?15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTubOY5gxe
Is all of this a dream, my whole life?
II. 15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1IqupGBtIO
She is just this side of wonderful,15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwleVdY4f6F
and suddenly the glamorous world15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGU5i31x4wf
fills itself with shining and we laugh15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkNpOXeAFA
at highway monuments that explain15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YU4zkaxr9
how hard the trek had been for Franciscans15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Kjkh3DkaU
in the Indian wilderness, poor fellows—15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5wse56zun
conversion is the devil's own15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZYU1zVI0u
work! Then the stones of her dream15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVN777DRcWq
turn up under her feet, the back15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdRAHz7kcR
of a huge land turtle. I know15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpTYscDGxN
we must be circling Paradise15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQGRkeRc72
because the ants enter the fleshy petals15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKHo9wINcH
of the roadside flowers with evident15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1MtcmihhN
joy and purpose (oh, my dark, pretty one).
III. 15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQgDROGIgr
Music, my adored. When is there never15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE6IAajTvEq
music? My accordion puffs up15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LRxZMBmH4
with drinkable melodies. I spill15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6YmehLb3Zs
her tunes into your listening ear,15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJeu1fj66R
one after the other: the squeeze-box15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qyPlslGHG
enters the dance of the plaintive gypsy15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYYCXGKo5C
with its hard rhythms, lilts the back-15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxCd89rpJm
breaking labor song the worker croons15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2viv3Q5Lkn
to earth, warbles romantic notes of15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7U3iTApWz
dissolving borders. You melt15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8eHfFcg7e
like a woman beneath her lover's touch.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2ghDgMyJF
Music is happy and pitiless when15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQnhyXt30H
it sets fire to combustible souls. Even15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmUmwId3ay
the raspy bandoneon's voice is lyric.
IV. 15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp93LMTaW1n
Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. (Speak15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFeKriSkqYy
in a whisper.) We slip into this15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmCTlKOZs2T
space half cognizant. The land is very15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXSLreQeDAF
large indeed: bones of the earth15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ai2UhPrba
worn down, though she is a living thing.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY45yRdxctK
See how she exposes her grace? Antelopes15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3pCEJkxVt
graze on the far plain—their high,15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskbtFFw612
white tails—the red soil throbs15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGL1RMzesd
its slow heartbeat, and the blue sky15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg9fBzgJbbD
clears so smartly, perfectly, like15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxsMIvAQug
radiance. Are the ancestors near?15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FKxWciQ3p
What can we know? We decide15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7jvK8RDBR
to wander around this prairie, mistaken15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuTrbBZ947
for Utes, buy commodities in little towns.
V.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisK7nf8wZg
Late afternoon we head west along the willow- banked15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9ls21qldT
Malheur after the long curve of the Snake River plain. (Above the falls where the Shoshone went to pray15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5lReQ0DIa
we soaked our feet in cold water, and I observed15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrwkx0KsQZS
the arch of her brown foot.) Rabbitbrush and sage15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8pOWbWovJ
along the highway, juniper on far hills and bluffs.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZThDjdWtJ
Sundown, and dusk falls over the wide basin of land.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXSF453xyC9
In Burns we eat eggs in a cafe, take a room15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCXKiWQ6Na
in the Motel 6. In the dark, I can see15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQQjDWY68f
her black hair, black against the pillows. Its clean15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLz9RmTd7TR
scent makes me think of corn. At dawn, I hold her15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6EdsFiWyB
and there are kisses. Then more kisses. Then more15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjoIVT7uw9
The day is cold; a north wind blew last night. But15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhZPFUF7fE
the land is open. Rain falls in showers of light.
VI. 15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84cTwWKPUR
Her hand on my thigh, my shoulder,15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1F1rQcx8W
in my hair. She leans over to kiss my cheek.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKGwkh0czC
We look at each other, smile. For miles15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7NOrUIDetx
we travel this way, nearly silent, point15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWvIomgx52
with eyes or chins at the circling hawk, the king-15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXP7e7sJ8K
fisher on the snag above the swollen15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOIKCDd81nO
creek. One night I weep in her arms15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmgt4EKMC9J
as she cries, "Oh, oh, oh!" because I have touched15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagRDy5Pa7A
her scars lightly: throat, belly, breasts.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLduDNfBnan
In that communion of lovers, thick sobs15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhMjpFQX2N
break from me as I think of my love15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPMaQBljq1
back home, all that I have done15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkYICW7dul
and cannot say. This is the first time15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5tDjeW2Jk
I have left her so completely, so alone.
- Janice Gould
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWFQoyO7WzW
