Monday, September 8, 2014

Desert Evening with Scorpions

A wasp hangs over the bougainvillea
        like an unrelenting consciousness
               with nothing to hold on to

O why could I never say the things to you
        that should never have been said?

The coastal sagebrush growing in the sand trough
       throws a million tiny buds against the sky
               how many inchworms disguised as branches?

O why was it your dark happiness I chased
       and never your fair sadness?

Fuzz forms on the strand like a gift to the wind
       while a man runs his cars along the dunes by hand
                dirt blazing as the wheels move

O why is there no memory of you
      only a me I still can't understand?

The birds are all moving toward the sunset
      where the orange ball takes the sky along with it
                and the pond current stills to receive its color

O why is moving on so slow I must pause
      to give tribute to the moment for your rage?

Birds walk in peach water
       the rust buds glow with a knowledge not my own
                but bequeathed in fragile gold

O why was your gift so cruel
       that I never will forget it?

A sidewinder calls the Gods to his magic winding tail
      and slips too slow and perfect to the brush
                just as the moon takes control of the night

O why was I so stupid, when I let you erase me,
       you weren't erased too?