Los Colores (Memory, Albuquerque, New Mexico)

last day in the city walking streets and alleys
a temporary respite from saying goodbye
pastel houses in the oldest neighborhoods
not one word remembered
a photograph remains, my torn blue denim jacket
your black wool overcoat

[RK, 5/28/23]

Chile (Memory, Santa Fe, New Mexico)

Obsessive compulsive bird watcher last seen falling
from the interstate highway in favor of the jeep track.
That first morning on the balcony in Santa Fe
we were on the road to the isolation wards
one for you one for me and we turned away from them
even as we fell into the comrade manifesto.

Instead testing the updrafts
vultures, eagles, and hawks in passing
they were American birds and always the same
bland and predictable.
Falling onto the motel bed, embracing you
imagining the exotic Andean Condor, dreaming of Chile.

[RK, 5/28/23]