1.
roadrunners look nothing
like the cartoon
far smaller against creosote
bushes and yucca
no meep meeps
2.
sundried canyon walls
tower sides of the Rio Grande
as we surrender supine to
fresh packed mud floor
gaze vertical to imaginary
hot air balloons
left leg and arm to U.S.
right leg and arm to Mexico
for a moment, a bridge
3.
Emory Peak summit
across Chisos, ghost, phantom
mountains, last
stronghold of the toughest Apache
people of the forest
4.
blooming rainbow, prickly pear
strawberry pitaya cactus
red and yellow desert roses on
braille lids of spiked canteens
bide out the rains, restraint
Native American Church
peyote buttons
steeped in tea, consumed
never smoked
pipe across open pages of the Bible
for a moment, a bridge
5.
Santa Elena Canyon
four months parched
sky whistles O
into uncovered mouth
cloud torrents pour
between two mesas
two materialized RoyGBiv de bows
impeccable wax-ons, all the way
for a moment, a bridge
what does it mean?
6.
all roads end
at the Rio Grande
arroyos can shapeshift
into raging rivers
while you sleep
7.
Mexican long-nosed bats,
copperheads, four species of
venomous rattlesnakes
coiled assassins in
clay crannies and crumble nooks
“snakes, scorpions, and tarantulas generally won’t hurt you unless you annoy them”*
same, snakes, scorpions, and tarantulas
8.
Hikers leave two traces
of Texarkana drawls in their wake
one gallon water jugs
strapped like Bjorn’s to concave chests
sweet, liquid, life-saving babies
a camera clicks, the dark-haired one
leans closer, swathed in sagebrush
notes of solid shoulders
boy on edge of man
9.
vultures turn lazy circles
to Tori Amos songs on repeat
indigo and violet
Chihuahuan waves
ancient tree squats
gnarled roots twist
wicked branches point
to the horizon
10.
you choke on an exhale of tears
from the sapphire streak
of spirit voltage
you, held in open cupped palms
in basin’s hypnotic heartbeat
8,000 feet of infinity
surges through each cell
for a moment, a bridge
*Big Bend National Park Service Pamphlet, 1999
This poem first appeared in American Saunter: Poems of the U.S. (FlowerSong Press, 2024).
—
A. M. Hayden is Poet Laureate and Professor for Sinclair College. Her debut collection, American Saunter, released December 2024 (FlowerSong Press). Her first chapbook, How to Tie Tobacco, and second collection, Old World Wings, will be released in 2025 (Wild Ink Publishing). Hayden is a Pushcart Prize nominee and the 2023 River Heron Editor’s Choice Prize winner. She lives with her family and many furry rescue babies, including a very special blind, three-legged pup named Vinny Valentine.
