Burial Poem 6 --34 33'14.16" N, 112 15' 56.59" W

Late Burial

Down from the plains
         standing in a ditch
         on a road through the mesas
and the dry earth I see
         sky spread out like wings
         of giant desert birds
seldom seen as clouds
         billow, build and rise
         into a forever beyond me
and what I can believe
         while rays of light
         sweep down through
the clouds like golden fans
         one or a hundred
         miles away--
I lose count--lightning's
         fingers dance across
         the earth and wind
deepens from a far off hum
         to a howl as clouds
         join just before the desert
storm I look down to see
         the feather of a buzzard
         laid across the sun
                                 bleached bones.