An inhospitable truth I have To carry throughout my life That must stay buried in my heart— What a terrible truth! It dances on my tongue

The wind hears many secrets As he blows at his election. Only a hearer at best— He mulls them over and again But doesn’t repeat or think aloud

Love is many, Water is many And flows aplenty But Fire is one And consumes until gone All but purity.

Sweat is the other garment You wear in the desert When the only water is in the cact… And all but the flies are inert But a cool layer of sweat

Two streams that converge And flow inextricably Are like two lovers Meandering about who meet - Not knowing anything of what

I was smote by words As a soldier with bullets ‘Til I harnessed their power And they slight retreated lest I would fire back

The treetop glimmers outside my wi… As light, dancing upon the leaves— Shimmers off each leaf in soft yel… From afar, my attention is retriev… By light, pure and perfectly aglow…

Coming from within a rising hedge Of voluptuous white oleander— I sensed a turmoil; one writhe Seduced better than before And within the naked boughs

I saw a woman emerge from a shadow With a sly demeanor and look about… Her sequined dress was aglow. She didn’t know I was also out. I watched her remove a silver shoe

Among hills Apache red Where damas and vaqueros Built up a homestead Past the mercados And hills with a vague past

What love is this That spellbinds me And keeps me returning To read scripture? Older I will get

What a curtain Bisbee has That keeps Mexico subdued And influences the lands From which the Sierra was hewn. What purple folds keep Oaxaca

Rabat is a black pearl Of cellophanic rainbow Gazing upon waves that curl And lick a shore little known. Gibraltar is the dock

Often conversation carries Us through the day For talking about things is Basic to an alliance Yet at other times, we survive

See there marches Orion With Sirius close at his feet Tarrying not long in the air To begin the midnight hunt. His quickened breath congeals—