hot desert wind
Sangre de Cristo peaks
still snowcapped

cow camp --
fluttering in the moonlight:
a mountain windmill

in the corral
a bay mare pricks up her ears
and whinnies

old tack room --
cobwebs lean from a saddlehorn
to fill both stirrups

beneath the pine
a weathered grave marker
blue columbines

autumn sunset --
pine needles lengthen
their own shadows

in front of the fire
a young wife sits cross-legged,
patching blue jeans

up early --
his longjohns by the stove
still give off sage

asters tipped over
and a thin skin of ice
on the horse trough

vaulting the snowdrifts
the mare's belly
sweating icicles

a couple of steers
frozen against the fence
the bitter wind

barn owl --
from the depths of warm hay
its softened "who"

rays of a blue moon
fall across the face
of the sleeping tramp

one flickering wick --
the candle wax warms
a pool of stars

blood flowing
from the bobcat's kill
in the gully

after the rain
the puddle sinks smoothly
into a deer track

far away
the cars of the morning freight
slide through the valley

full moon
her needlepoint softens
the smell of cactus

he's frowning
as he removes a thorn
from the collie's foot

June rain --
the old stray makes a new path
to our backdoor

the sassy kitten
arches her back and hisses --
a black beetle

sweltering heat --
the toughened cactus green
bares its spine

a dust devil
follows the neighbor's track

toward sunset

proud as anybody
the scorpion crosses the sand,
parading its tail

at the trading post
a couple of old cowboys
shooting the breeze

Shoshone gravestone --
an eagle feather withered
down to the quill

hollow echoes
of the drumming
warriors' feet

into the clouds
winter smoke
hurries ghosts

the trail
in the high pass
blocked

windless summit --
a still butterfly swells
in the sunlight

two riders halt --
a double rainbow, bright
beneath them

the wolf's cry --
so alone at first
it picks up friends

she wishes
on all Seven Sisters
the blue black sky

abandoned fort --
the ant nest in blown sand
up the adobe

one branch
of a stunted apple tree
so many bees

dew dripping
from antler velvet
rises on starlight

June 1, 1991 - June 13, 1995