By Misti Velvet Rainwater and Christopher David Lake
Date: 15 August 2000

Too Soon For Tucson

it's too late for Taco Bell and "Wild at Heart"
          and too soon
           for Tucson
the demented desert howl can claim us someday
         with its red void
          and spirit of Ed Abbey
         soaring above us
            on thermals
         a patient turkey vulture

here it is relentlessly green and there is no end
         in sight
to second chances and grass salad dressed and seasoned
         for nursery rhymes
too much time to kill the blessing and ask for dessert
the hurt rolls off our backs and splats
          on the sidewalk...

we could talk tonight
of then and now
and how easy it will be
when we are home among the sage and saguaro
no more sorrow to shoot at each other
in watergun wars

the fear will stalk us later
let's put it to bed
and fall asleep entwined
trusting nothing more
than the ageless lullabye
that is
our love.
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