remembering Don Juan

remembering Don Juan*                                                           

Photo by courtesy of foxdreams.com, personal web site of the Trahan family of Albuquerque

each   on a  corner   of silence
in the train
heart   like a face   f a l l I n g
amidst  dark hair
i   ride   the    p a l e    sl e ep
oblivious the wall  of     feature
the city  stands me  to
until dream    the violent bird
unsnares itself
takes   me   awing                see
a verandah,    the  slow bake of
shade   going down on    white plastered
walls,  a    d e s e r t   burned   o u t
into   lo o s ened   thorn,
mountains   carved   from the emptied
bone   of the    s k y .
i’d   leap through   that light
aflood at    n o o n ,   hold like
a shadow    to the cleft of the
ridge   learn
all over again about the
strength      of   four    directions

tokyo
april 1992

*the ‘Don Juan’ Matus, the sorcerer of Carlos Castaneda’s works.