I. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMEFf8rTuh
Desert heat, high clouds, and sky37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnk65toAKMl
the color of lapis. On this journey,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmiQq0HWmS
anything seems possible,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyullbhp7aF
so we stop by an ancient cottonwood37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrS2StnzEf
to kiss. The beauty trembles,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5D8ImgVVH
doesn't say a word, just watches37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnowKtRFaSH
me, so open. Small birds fly by, flock37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuoCpFfxk5m
in the shady tree above us. What37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBa8lkybDo7
settles in her heart? What congeals?37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtFUdIQWmX
Hope? Despair? Far off, the river churns37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDCqmeQHd4
in its sandy banks, swallows veer, turn37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrP0pqgzVQd
in fiery air. Will these kisses seal37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHt7hM0x93b
her to me? I her lover, she my wife?37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11MpWOL2Y5
Is all of this a dream, my whole life?
II. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvlPPoMPf6C
She is just this side of wonderful,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFljNNlcod3
and suddenly the glamorous world37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdwCVCX3LZ
fills itself with shining and we laugh37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVQIEaMpiV
at highway monuments that explain37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0XwqJccoU
how hard the trek had been for Franciscans37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjhqGjcVay
in the Indian wilderness, poor fellows—37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRyySXSrQo
conversion is the devil's own37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyV6EgLCErX
work! Then the stones of her dream37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnK2EwvTK16
turn up under her feet, the back37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4r9OeER65A
of a huge land turtle. I know37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTvV4290Vj
we must be circling Paradise37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkdH6Q8wS0
because the ants enter the fleshy petals37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uJL6dZfVN
of the roadside flowers with evident37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgVLGn31Mk
joy and purpose (oh, my dark, pretty one).
III. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSt8nqChwQ0
Music, my adored. When is there never37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0r7INcpY0p
music? My accordion puffs up37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoh849dTb0c
with drinkable melodies. I spill37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHg8yYcVtSl
her tunes into your listening ear,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XHBTjLO2W
one after the other: the squeeze-box37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa33a6R14f0
enters the dance of the plaintive gypsy37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2F61WcYrVq
with its hard rhythms, lilts the back-37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rH8uQLpF2
breaking labor song the worker croons37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWoSXeIVAlo
to earth, warbles romantic notes of37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYqmqZkVu6
dissolving borders. You melt37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6iY1ogRJw
like a woman beneath her lover's touch.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwa8Qwhlyk
Music is happy and pitiless when37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YSdHzGgGA
it sets fire to combustible souls. Even37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSgYzBwQRoK
the raspy bandoneon's voice is lyric.
IV. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJtK91TW3j
Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. (Speak37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVuC0lN1uz
in a whisper.) We slip into this37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenTfyB4QgZ
space half cognizant. The land is very37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWpJBsEFU2
large indeed: bones of the earth37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbOgsNelhXp
worn down, though she is a living thing.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikDsknFXP3
See how she exposes her grace? Antelopes37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDaS2FcEDD
graze on the far plain—their high,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbU2fJ8aBk
white tails—the red soil throbs37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNkxSJkDoQ2
its slow heartbeat, and the blue sky37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENAY8EcLbW
clears so smartly, perfectly, like37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw80X4Wu8et
radiance. Are the ancestors near?37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrqFImTr5m
What can we know? We decide37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEGBX6CWRO
to wander around this prairie, mistaken37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3rnFfiXrx
for Utes, buy commodities in little towns.
V.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdPvyCyEKcb
Late afternoon we head west along the willow- banked37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdCgNyxew5
Malheur after the long curve of the Snake River plain. (Above the falls where the Shoshone went to pray37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0uGQhjzzbl
we soaked our feet in cold water, and I observed37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0I8Kn1K7kr
the arch of her brown foot.) Rabbitbrush and sage37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGkQUyFTmg
along the highway, juniper on far hills and bluffs.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Fzeh6CfAh
Sundown, and dusk falls over the wide basin of land.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttdSlKNGN3
In Burns we eat eggs in a cafe, take a room37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeeKHMw24y
in the Motel 6. In the dark, I can see37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLM6fNQ7R8
her black hair, black against the pillows. Its clean37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxJAXeNJjy
scent makes me think of corn. At dawn, I hold her37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxjlS3crtF
and there are kisses. Then more kisses. Then more37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNgZ9x4Szy
The day is cold; a north wind blew last night. But37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGfndh6LGw
the land is open. Rain falls in showers of light.
VI. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbcAIhdhq7
Her hand on my thigh, my shoulder,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡly8ZodofGh
in my hair. She leans over to kiss my cheek.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡary9oMvZWu
We look at each other, smile. For miles37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMxBAfKKem
we travel this way, nearly silent, point37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLa5TEFMwG
with eyes or chins at the circling hawk, the king-37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4wHvGVAF0
fisher on the snag above the swollen37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9PPa0ygJ2w
creek. One night I weep in her arms37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YfgZYhi2G
as she cries, "Oh, oh, oh!" because I have touched37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgQolce0ZG
her scars lightly: throat, belly, breasts.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2T8VYRxxAU
In that communion of lovers, thick sobs37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngHeHZsgRr
break from me as I think of my love37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ26QJ3me2j
back home, all that I have done37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvSk0u1fuwr
and cannot say. This is the first time37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Fz3MN5TYg
I have left her so completely, so alone.
- Janice Gould
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCNObnqAxh
