Linda Studley

Arizona

Doves croon in the courtyard.

Desert blue pales to the horizon.

Palms, all smooth and shaggy;

all graceful and gawky,

sentinel the sky in silhouette.

Cacti bristle from sand and gravel.

Paddle and rod and barrel.

Green and red and yellow.

Quill and needle and barb.

Plump paddles, prickly pear pile-up.

Firestick tumble – fire crackers suspended in mid explosion.

Massive, ruinous saguaro – viejo – venerable one.

Arizona.

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