Love and Loss: Prequel and Prologue

I. Prequel (1990’s)

Cycling…

happy whee and zip yellow dust in my blood

of adobe bound generation vision

of gold and suns blinking in circles i think

in circles, my blood moves in large, irregular,

non-circular cycles of *yellow adobe dust*

shining out like a desert in a sea

of vacancy and like an eagle revered

and pierced by an arrow flied by gravity

the bird turns and looks at its body skewered

by its mother’s feathers; hurtling toward the womb

pulling air like a cord

II. Prologue (8/2/2020)

Bass

I could never sit through your patient explanations-

I’d paddle and watch trees, sky, birds

as you laid out reels, sinkers, and lures in neat lines

with swivels of head for emphasis

At last you would find the perfect cast and we would wait,

you perched still and straight as a hawk

only breaking form to glare at the scratching squirrel

sniffing and twirling the paddle

The line drops as the hook sinks in soft, squirming side;

time stops, jumps, and starts with a yank

You land in the boat with a thump; I drop the paddle

I stare blankly as you look up

gasping for breath as eyes lose focus- what do you want?

Too slowly I pull out the hook

Blood makes a gentle river on my dusty fingers

I pick up your now still body

and place it back in the stream now marred by tears and blood

You start to float gently downstream

and I sink amongst the tackle and watch trees, sky, birds

wishing I had listened to your words