A chill claws its way up, out
of brittle bone beneath, sends
sudden shiver down sagging skin –
oh, that it were still smooth
as my baby’s bottom a decade ago.

Time stacked up against me,
my life’s nothing but a sham,
house of cards blown down
by cavalier cavalry Christians who built
thin case against me.

My laughter trailed off behind you leaving,
traipsed muddy tracks through the heart
of Texas. I spilled tears that could fill
the Rio Grande plus your ten-gallon hat.
But salt of myself fell instead on scorching

desert sand, swallowed so soon nobody tasted
their sting but me. I stumble in circles, circumference
traced by buzzards, dried-up bones that hold me up
in need of marrow, merriment, your smile,
freshwater spirit of rain.