Pilgrimage: #4: The Use of Things

Rushing to bloom or recycle with pin
wheels this bright yellow shoot
of sturdy petals
sawed from
the license
recycled
to offset winter
with mandala face & Zia suns.

Pilgrimage: Day 4: Quince

The flowering quince confused

uncertain 

rushes to bloom

Is it a warm Winter or

a cold Spring?

Yesterday I walked short-sleeved

Today my coat worn thin 

does not protect me from the subtle fog

I rush too

toward the Café 

and you

Pilgrimage: #3: For Lease

Afternoon shadows scroll
over the abandoned facade
I step up
to the faded
advertisement
for dancing.

I can almost
hear the bass
through the stucco
Imagine I am a girl inside
the rectangle of a hall
Not so long ago
wishing for
the extension
of a hand.
Wishing for
a twirl
on the floor.

Pilgrimage: Day 3: Requited

feeling recalled
the longed for kiss
received
the hand once out of reach
now held
the smile observed
in this moment understood
No longer speak of falling
we have reached
the deep
and now ascend

Pilgrimage: #2: Cottonball Heart

No sorrow in the blue pastel
Gifted drawings come

A daughter's tiny foot
Mother singing of the sun

Gripping tightly
to soft kaleidoscope

of red & orange cottonballs
Open your sculptor's palm

Grasp for the yellow stars
Ours is a birthday collage

Pilgrimage: Day 2: Fusion

the amaryllis voluptuous
in its single-minded purity
rushes to bloom before Winter's ending/
its white petals surprise the mind prepared for red
and comfort the heart prepared for sorrow

Pilgrimage: Ojo Caliente Cemetary: #1

Snow hides trenches between angels
& rectangle stones like open books
lain flat. I pull off my gloves
to snapshot praying hands,
war medals & graduation tassels
of sons & daughters
dear Angelicas and Joses
who have graduated into
a new year of snow

as vigilant mothers
walk the new afternoon
where blue paint shimmers
in sunlight on wooden crosses
& the lavender tulips
will never fade

Pilgrimage: 1st Day: Frost

Japanese anemones
bloom in Summer
when heat is reliable
on long lazy days
but this anemone
chose to bloom
while breath is visible
and gloved hands are too clumsy
for picking flowers