Grand Canyon

The FB post i shared today had a link to a poem of mine. Unfortunately, about two years ago, my web-service provider took a header and lost my previous posts forever. This is the poem i mentioned that was from that link.

Grand Canyon

Snow
until the lights hit the banks of the roadside,
blurting whiteness into the driver’s eyes,
it had not revealed its presence in the night.

Driver:
at the wheel since L.A. mid-morning,
staring bleakly at the white
long since ceasing to distinguish colors and shades,
reacting to only black and white.
recognizing the significance in the blanch of
late night white,
he slowed:
those uphill climbs around the curves
had brought them to the mountains
sunk in.

Car.
Slipping slightly, it slid over the median
into the glazed parking lot of the inn.

Bar.
Sunny, bearded cowboy
singing in the bar
accompanied by his guitar,
wired for sound:
electronic Tumbling Tumbleweeds.

Imagination?
shabby dirty man alongside
white robed man with wool-hooded jacket, looking like
Jesus in Pomona, returning to Sambo’s
after turning heads by asking for five balloons
and announcing,
“I’m going to bag some heroin.”
a real bad effort to impress
i guess.

Holes in the mountains.
snow outside is real;
the cowboy has sung his song,
turned off the amplifier;
daughter, curled beneath the covers,
is sacred.

Full day:
grand canyon, cowboys, and
white robed, doped up Jesus in Pomona
and
sleeping daughter in the snow.

Grand Canyon, Arizona
December 21, 1981

1 thought on “Grand Canyon

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *