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Clear Gold, Imperial Desert, CA |
one gallon
two lips
split by a river of endless thirst
hot flood of desert paint
washes off silt semen sweat
and when you arrive
there will be no paradise
just beef jerky
bile and an endless mile to go
a silent rock
balanced on the head of another
a look out cross warped horizon
its every layer touched by the devil’s shaking finger
rippling tide of sand
and no man no woman or child
shall be forgotten
five gallons
ten split lips
the thirst of an emptied sea
ravine of shoes and shit and silence
a cactus field of winter roses
shell and somewhere
a young girl carries a water bottle to gym class
an expectant mother fills the dog’s bowl
a tired waitress brings her table fifteen cups of ice
lemon margaritas on the rocks
slushies
fountain drinks
courtesy cups
an endless mile to go
twenty-six gallons
fifty-two cracked lips
split with the gush of air
an opened promise
between Rock Mountain and the Arco station on US 2
51 blue flags swarm
desert flies
awkward and bumbling in an alchemist’s wind
change is uncertainty of the mind
menace of sanity melting
with each surge on the thermometer
107
108
110 points of lava
walking on hot coals
the endless mile behind you
two water towers sliced
a bloody foot stumbles
between this world and the next
a fever
a succulent plant
a sunrise on stilts
a pair of waning eyes
two cracked lips
a sip of clear gold
copyright 2004
Ariel
Robello |
