MARS.

Bonneville Salt Flats,

30,000 acres of Mars near the Border.

Cherries & berries 

twirl across our rear view mirror

Kelsey shakes her head and sighs 

at yet another red handed window visit.

I grab the sheriff's wrist

in hopes he won't reach for the lead foot warrant 

out for my arrest.

dishonest compliments stumble from my mouth,

followed by more lip sweat

&

 a tip of the hat

"carry on"

upon entering, 

I was assured a UFO would hit us dead smack

in the middle of both our brows

we sit silently,

our thoughts understood by one another

We crave flames to keep warm 

 but more-so to cast shadows on the land 
so we don't feel so alone.

NIGHT COMES QUICK

MORNING COMES QUAKE

The salt crust trembles beneath us 

shaking our eyes awake, 

to trace the trail of black smoke 

that exits the rockets above us. 

CISCO.

-Cisco, Utah-

"A barber shop for the living & a playground for the dead"

It was a hot, dry morning... 

the sun was no kisser either, 

it was no gentle beam of light,

scraping our skin, 

turning our flesh to weathered western leather.

In the afternoon

I watched Eileen take my lovers identity with a shitty clippers, 

minutes after I watched him take hers, 

willfully losing themselves in RV mirrors together.

I did not know much about this woman,

I just knew this was her town...

little did i know,

her town would soon speak volumes of her to me.

 by the end of Cisco,

I would have lived and breathed my dear Eileen.

However, 

I truly believe 

not all sacred moments that come to man are meant to be spoken of,

but are to be kept atop the rocks alongside river bend,

or with the cougars in the shadow of the unknown.

"with every shooting star I wished a wish I'll never say."

with every shooting star she'd gasp, 

and then we'd lay"

SAGE.

 We have one rule on the road: 

"If your eyes at any moment spot a place, feeling, or light worthy of the lens, slam the brakes."

To capture time is more appealing then to race it I believe.

 It was a blistering heat,  

So we tossed our slips on a Juniper rooted along the creek, the one  our sunburnt, clay braised bodies thirsted for.  

Tessa's hands doubled as pans as I watched her sift stones through her fingertips.

Water Striders danced across the surface & around my calves, clumsily bumping into one another for my entertainment.

Sagebrush lined the base of Pinion pines as cracks lined My lip skin, splitting like the desert ground I stood upon. We bundled Sage and tied it together with sweetgrass, knowing one day evil spirits would find us, ones we would soon smudge away.