out past santa fe

is chains &
leather
peyote dust
tin-can
signs
shot full
w/ holes
from
biker boys
where
mesas
tabletop
above
rattlesnake plains
turned
color of rust
at dusk
sky thick
as congealed
blood, then
panorama
of stars, then
nothing
moon
swallowed
up
coyote
caught
in headlights
night
moist
w/ thunder

 

copyright © Brian E. Langston
published in 4X4 The Newport Review, Number 15 (July/August 2004)