In the Silence Of the San Luis

In the silence of the San Luis
I do not know you, Jackie,
Nor the words that you speak
About relationships and love:
Only the coyote calling
Over miles to the late sun;
The tension in your body
Next to mine.

Where are the elk and the wolf of you?
Where are the dust and your rain?
Where is the stone
Sharp under my foot when I walk,
Caressed by your breeze?

Does an alchemist work you
With strange heats and poisons,
Some developer foresee
Well watered lawns?

Without care, you plan over soil and seed
A pavement you demand
All accept under their feet.

Would it matter if it were gold?

This afternoon while you slept on moss and stone,
The sun writhed over the shape of you beneath the water,
Bubbles clung to your pubic hair like silver seed,
And in the silence of the San Luis,
I could not believe
Pavement accepts a lover.