I. 30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQhImLVByM
Desert heat, high clouds, and sky30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMaamoKFXT
the color of lapis. On this journey,30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnLAFgGt96
anything seems possible,30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYafJuOIye
so we stop by an ancient cottonwood30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHyZE4NugU
to kiss. The beauty trembles,30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKAxua1adOG
doesn't say a word, just watches30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3G5GIF9OI
me, so open. Small birds fly by, flock30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvG9kO8q9TS
in the shady tree above us. What30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEH3WxFD3zz
settles in her heart? What congeals?30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjptsIoR14
Hope? Despair? Far off, the river churns30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwo9UV5lj8
in its sandy banks, swallows veer, turn30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEY0tXNH3AM
in fiery air. Will these kisses seal30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWz1r2jhMYp
her to me? I her lover, she my wife?30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvcnWqUSYzO
Is all of this a dream, my whole life?
II. 30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUWroCkEHm
She is just this side of wonderful,30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMoIPnNDHj
and suddenly the glamorous world30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenk3ax22N1
fills itself with shining and we laugh30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBOHlM65kD
at highway monuments that explain30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdTvfZtOu8
how hard the trek had been for Franciscans30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡycfTJzan30
in the Indian wilderness, poor fellows—30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WDBLOPRnC
conversion is the devil's own30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3u6h6a211
work! Then the stones of her dream30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcFavsec8fD
turn up under her feet, the back30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAG5TMdPqdb
of a huge land turtle. I know30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbj3Qqt0fEK
we must be circling Paradise30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8Z4xSBTE7
because the ants enter the fleshy petals30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYSbtFqotH
of the roadside flowers with evident30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFVqV29pbi
joy and purpose (oh, my dark, pretty one).
III. 30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBsJ3kdsEg
Music, my adored. When is there never30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpq9VdjdD1
music? My accordion puffs up30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1VRfx0EBl
with drinkable melodies. I spill30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZp65kcTED
her tunes into your listening ear,30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgjRPOGrCZ
one after the other: the squeeze-box30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwrSmTRX8V
enters the dance of the plaintive gypsy30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZgTR7TaF8
with its hard rhythms, lilts the back-30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbf2vrHRXiX
breaking labor song the worker croons30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLCI8Cl0oq
to earth, warbles romantic notes of30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCm0xXbZMQ
dissolving borders. You melt30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKw0zrrOvE
like a woman beneath her lover's touch.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbmkocAWgu
Music is happy and pitiless when30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowKdXC80Qj
it sets fire to combustible souls. Even30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtA8zHDB33X
the raspy bandoneon's voice is lyric.
IV. 30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKORIrU4rN
Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. (Speak30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4ZlKp6gvh
in a whisper.) We slip into this30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NKCSwlNPG
space half cognizant. The land is very30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAl5nCCCl5G
large indeed: bones of the earth30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFFZZywempD
worn down, though she is a living thing.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdpNlwsmaJA
See how she exposes her grace? Antelopes30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJk5MuVGvRH
graze on the far plain—their high,30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZa1kcTqJjm
white tails—the red soil throbs30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpb8tqr6PoV
its slow heartbeat, and the blue sky30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJsztognzw
clears so smartly, perfectly, like30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBSYqDFK8H
radiance. Are the ancestors near?30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQI1sBxBrM
What can we know? We decide30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4IW6MPxS8
to wander around this prairie, mistaken30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUriOF3QtH
for Utes, buy commodities in little towns.
V.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pILsXmM6L
Late afternoon we head west along the willow- banked30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKTcqjhlfY
Malheur after the long curve of the Snake River plain. (Above the falls where the Shoshone went to pray30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYwh1VLb2U
we soaked our feet in cold water, and I observed30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNnCwjOX9q
the arch of her brown foot.) Rabbitbrush and sage30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4EGZxKVe9
along the highway, juniper on far hills and bluffs.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsoLApDOTK5
Sundown, and dusk falls over the wide basin of land.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMCO8n1aY1
In Burns we eat eggs in a cafe, take a room30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEi51N3gyPe
in the Motel 6. In the dark, I can see30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ05rSNhJlNv
her black hair, black against the pillows. Its clean30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0J1BFAMJU
scent makes me think of corn. At dawn, I hold her30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsFqBU93sY
and there are kisses. Then more kisses. Then more30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2OE9PV0i7
The day is cold; a north wind blew last night. But30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjOr8QAAVE
the land is open. Rain falls in showers of light.
VI. 30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUq0Wc2udts
Her hand on my thigh, my shoulder,30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tC62uYmuE
in my hair. She leans over to kiss my cheek.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxGwFYtfwW
We look at each other, smile. For miles30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZjeSwF6gC
we travel this way, nearly silent, point30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowoVOtN5Tt
with eyes or chins at the circling hawk, the king-30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDoH5hjHbg
fisher on the snag above the swollen30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95Gltm2luj
creek. One night I weep in her arms30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwKbTm74LX
as she cries, "Oh, oh, oh!" because I have touched30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrB3xAyjl20
her scars lightly: throat, belly, breasts.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1dcKb7aUy
In that communion of lovers, thick sobs30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7FZfoiCV3
break from me as I think of my love30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEkhADVxVF
back home, all that I have done30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwjsEAPRsmp
and cannot say. This is the first time30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBc9AQo7xN
I have left her so completely, so alone.
- Janice Gould
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCsNczlNxQ
