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The Dreaded Goathead   

 

I loved living in Abuquerque, NM for seven years. The high desert of the southwest had a stark beauty very different from the lush greenery and banks of forsythia and hedges of azaleas of my native North Carolina. There were devilish goatheads in New Mexico, but at least we didn't have kudzu. These are two poems I've written about New Mexico. "Back in New Mexico" was published by the February, 2024 (Eighth) Issue of Abandoned Mine.  https://www.abandonedmine.org/eighth-issue-february-2024

Back in New Mexico
David Cameron

I step on a goathead
tricorn devil lacerating
my heel injecting desert
sizzle and chile fire until
I hop hop hop hop
and fall on a cholla that
hugs me with outstretched
arms lighting me up like
tequila shots burning my eyes
with salty tears heaving
piñon sighs still high
from the way the mountains
pink like melon and now
I think I’m back.
Back in New Mexico.

  Shades of Brown

High desert seems sepia,

a monochrome monotony

compared to color wheel

explosions I’ve known.

 

Brown. Everywhere brown.

No hedge of azaleas or

bank of bougainvilleas,

no iris beds or poppy fields.

 

Spare and drab

until thin air clears the head

and monsoon rains wash the

spirit and magnificent light

 

reveals the heartbreaking

beauty of a single Indian

Paint Brush, blood red, against

a backdrop of chocolate,

 

tan, ochre, amber, cinnamon

ecru, russet, sorrel, tawny,

umber, ginger, bronze, buff,

chestnut, rust, and burnt sienna.

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