*January 1998, additions made today, Aug. 9, 2003.

I have an ordinary Mexican blanket
of the usual Mexican design
which sits brightly on my bed.
At first you would probably bet
that this is just the average kind
of Mexican blanket instead.
But, if you could look real closely
through the somber eyes of the owner
you see a much larger, broader picture.
A picture which envelops much time, surely
much distance and miles covered,
many memories remembered, a fixture.
This blanket has traversed many bounds
of life, experience, people, and places--
the happy times and the horribly sad.
When I gaze, it silently sounds
off many differing and divers cases
which we have together shared and had.
I remember buying this faithful blanket
in downtown Tijuana at the market
for a bartered three dollars is all.
We made the trip up the coastal set
to the City of Angels and you bet
that we visited the world that is small.
I left L.A. bound for the desert
so did the blanket--in the air,
by bus, and by van to a reservation.
We experienced different colored dirt
and laid our inner fears bare
to overcome them with much sensation.
We learned of an interesting culture
which though subdued and strangely altered
still faintly showed through hearts and minds.

You have kept me warm in the back of the car
sleeping at rest stops near and far,
camping in the freezing snow,
or on a cold airplane ride.
The memoris we have shared over the years
span sadness, happiness, and fears
and several countries territories
but they will remain with me forever.