Adoration in the Catalina Foothills
Below this crest of stillness
in a mid-winter evening
of hard frost
and grim-wrought gray,
I’m an indecent animal,
dying sadly in the briefest moments
on a road meant for misfits and outlaws.
Barely a vapor exists—
only deep, drab gullies
of condescension
slithering across botanical sand rifts
of frothy pearls everlasting
and staghorn cones.
This is a declaration of love
without hope of response—
the canopy of a queen
fortified for an indigent eternity
by a mouth of barren implements
and iridescent crows.
Pre-native ruins intersect
with ultramarine and infra-grisaille
where the flowers of Arizona
burst from nothingness—
a failure of semen
and anatomical restraint.
Richard King Perkins II is a state-sponsored advocate for residents in long-term care facilities. He lives in Crystal Lake, IL, USA with his wife, Vickie and daughter, Sage. He is a three-time Pushcart, Best of the Net and Best of the Web nominee whose work has appeared in more than a thousand publications.