Desert Cradle and Bleed

Desert Cradle

She moves with the sky,

Arching

Sunset

These floors of long dead oceans hiss in heat,

Whales replaced by acres of clouds.

The cacti sing slowly,

The creeks even slower.

This desert is a harsh bed,

A cradle filled with snakes and rocks.

Her children are made of calluses and sunburns and scars,

But these faces are wide with missing tooth smiles.

And the miles of dust sweep under their feet with ease.

Quickly.

Unwilling to leave this

W i d e

Expanse of color

Behind-

Bleed

Bleed No. 1

The chest swells

Sweat down the back

You know how it is

Glory

And the mouth is drooling

Red

If you were to touch the skin

It would melt and crumble

Like chocolate under the sun

And beneath

It’s there

And Eternity lives in this body

It knows

everything

The dying will not disturb it

This body bleeds and bleeds and has bled and knows it will have to bleed more

Simply

Even in memory the flow is endless

Joys and lost words seep from the mind

Milk in a box

Sour

Pleasures and profanities cannot help but

Drip

From the mouth

The eyes

Bleed No. 2

“I bleed for you”

She whispers

No

She bleeds for herself

For her dignity

God

And he bleeds for the words he can’t bring himself to say

Is it rage ?

Some love left beaten and without honor ?

Some hymn for a woman long forgotten ?

Oh, tell her.

Tell it.

He won’t