r o a d
w o r d s
and
where
the
road
leads,
there
is
my
religion
i
on the road south
i-25 hwy denver
three hours gone ..
before the border
exit at walsenberg
take a la veta pass
east to fort garland
and south again.
note:
in the valley
san luis valley
stretching towards
new mexico ..
there are neat
county numbered
roads terra cotta
intoxicating
and vanishing
+++++++++++
ii
to ride into an
edge of rain –
russell, kansas
zigzag to
colorado
fat rain –
farms fields
in ecstasy
prostrate trees
humble barns
after the border
shifting skies
and empathy
++++++++
iii
we stop for gas in needles
mojave desert july heat
already it is 110 degrees
in the morning,
this old car, windows down
we are t-shirts old jeans
and
we become an other
heavy wind hot dust
a dry whisper of hills
wind rippled skies
subtle washes
odd rises & &
invisible lakes
from the past
++++++++
iv
late
in a
week
rose &
i, we
detect
near by
morro
bay
thru
fate
a forest
of rain
swollen
eucalyptus
+++++++
v
the puzzling silhouette
ahead on the side road
turns into a man a monk
as we approach
we give a ride
we take him as
far as we dare
.. to the junction
near aspen/colorado
and in the backseat
he flaps all
the way there
++++++++
vi
oh how
she
debbie
goes
goes
in to
bryce
canyon
each
solstice
summer
to photo
this
utah
earth’
unbelievable
totems
+++++
vii
little to know in
nogales though
we are electric
to get there
from tucson
and to park
near a frontier
.. to stroll
between nations,
to find a
hidden place –
drinks + shade patio
and hence attend
to the fever waves
rolling in from
the gold Sonora
+++++++++
viii
i know
diane
grew in
bakerfield
by day she
summered
barefoot
on sticky
asphalts
thus by an
autumn
her fair
feet were
smoothly
inked
++++
ix
las cruces
new mexico
near el paso
fingers of the organ mountains
to the east are blurred
by the day heat and +
this city can could
disappear some times
with in the divine cries
of doves fluttering
+++++++++++
x
even on the hot days
tina she wears jeans
hair ebony skin ivory
thin top no makeup
to lose the heat
we go go south
from reno nevada
to tahoe & hike
among ponderosa
among hanggliders
or we head north
to pyramid lake
to find a carved cove
++++++++++++
xi
the 101 hwy
near salinas
california
the air in may is of onions
also there is a roadside café
featuring sharp cuisine & too
.. troops of glossy workers
are scattered in near fields
they, the workers work to
the point of saturation –
at night upon retirement
they have the bittersweet hands
and they have the incited auras
++++++++++++++++++
xii
now a sky blizzards
seeds of elm ..
town valley
española new mexico
from a sunday
santa cruz plaza
a man & a child
gathers lavender colors
from columns
of lilac bushes
off a main road
parading native grasses
and bent orchards
and cottonwoods
on sunken lawns
flooded every early morning
there are old crumbled adobes
with grassy roofs
++++++++++
xiii
on the pier
southernmost
keywest florida
facing wayward
to begin a night’ dedicated excessions
the crowds first must sacrifice
the catholic sun
+++++++++
xiv
just born roads
outside alamosa colorado
the fresh asphalt pavement
overtime becomes as yang
so & those new gray graveled roads
will be yin
++++++
O U T L I E R 