Abiquiu

© Mary Saracino


Red clay runs through thick yellow rock
red lips a parting  mouth revealing uneven yellowed teeth
I breathe in deeply
trying to absorb the colors, the smell, the textures
trying to inhale the scent of pinon
The cliffs’ soft ridges stretch the raw blue sky
like bone under skin
a body opened and wide; aching, taut
revealing the red coral heart beating, beating
beneath the layers of dust and the relentless wind,
I long to dive deeper into the rock
enter the place where the soul of the land lies, hidden
safely beneath the green tufts of sagebrush
that guard the hillside
only then can these sandstone gates open to heaven on earth
only then will the red clay ribbons mingle with my blood,
only then will the blue sky become my own flesh
yielding to the wide window of the horizon, flying


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Mary Saracino is a novelist, memoir writer, and poet. Her most recent novel, Heretics: A Love Story (2014) was published by Pearlsong Press. Her novel, The Singing of Swans (Pearlsong Press 2006) was named a 2007 Lambda Literary Awards finalist in the Spirituality category. She co-edited (with Mary Beth Moser) She Is Everywhere! Volume 3: An anthology of writings in womanist/feminist spirituality (iUniverse 2012), which earned the 2013 Enheduanna Award for Excellence in Women-Centered Literature from Sofia University. For more information about Mary, visit www.marysaracino.com and http://www.pearlsong.com/mary_saracino.htm