Paradise Cemetery

her grave surrounded by nameless orphaned babies

snarled scorched scrub oaks

mixed and offered teas,

her prescribed cures for tuberculosis and la escarlatina

fond of her new home, 

she settled in the valley outside Cave Creek

spoke broken English,

occasionally seen in town

shopping for sugar or 25¢ hairbrushes

mailing a letter to her husband in Zamora

dragged a plant sack weekends through the hills

followed by her collie dog,

hoping to spot a trogon parrot or secret deer

came the rains last day in July

when she fell ill,

silence her only ally

died as suddenly as the monsoons quit,

her daughter returning to Deming

this time for good

remembered in ’63 with a burial marker

through the kind graces

of some Paradise Cemetery Committee

greenyellow plastic flowers stab at graveyard dirt

charcoal clouds veil this late afternoon sun,

mountain jays screech like maniacs

fighting over burnt out weeds

yes, now's the time Mexican Madwoman:

run from their wasteland of bones

before the first reckless raindrops

again violate this withered ground

Paradise, AZ

1980