Curtis Dunlap and Richard Straw

Sundown Lights

 
intermittent shade
in the windmill blades
desert sun

faded billboard cowboy
a hitchhiker's new friend

wind-blown sombrero—
the drifter pockets
his tattered beret

waving toward a bus
la madre y el bebé
and honey mesquite*

squeaking wheels silenced
by an air brake hush

lush saguaro
and a nectar-feeding bat
taillights disappear


Rhyme-rengay (Composed September 2007)
 
    *The Spanish phrase means "the mother and the baby."

Sketchbook - Vol. 3, No. 9 (September 30, 2008)

A Cup of Cold Water

seeds sown
in a backyard washout
deaf to reason                              

a flooded cemetery
raising the dead                                

pods for swine
      a prodigal son
eyes black clouds                           

thunder
a hobo shouting
"Repent! Repent!"                         

bread cast upon waters
and boats swamped by waves   

a rainbow spanning
the hurricane's eye—
sirens fill the streets
                        

Began 10/29/2007 - Completed 11/08/2007