Los Ecos
Reverberations of place: poems, journal entries, observations.
Entry 1: Paso Verde
Un pasito verde,
A green step,
Is a step taken
Into the brush, the bush,
The desert, the woods.
It’s a step taken
Toward our origins
And into
The life and rhythms
Joining and
Guiding us all
Entry 2: Casita I
Feet of ash, cracked walls.
I thought you’d fall,
Yet here we stand
Through many falls and blazing summers —
Here’s to the phoenix that hid inside you;
Here’s to the phoenix hiding in us all
Entry 3: Casita II
Emptied you out,
Patched you up,
Put a roof over your head.
Wired you up
To keep a patch of cold air —
Like an ember alone in the dark
—turning upon the rocks and thorns of
Our scorching land.
Yes, we dressed you up
Casita del Paso Verde,
Our ‘Liza Doolittle ready to meet the world.
Be proud of what you’ve become,
But please
Don’t embarrass us.
Entry 4: Mantis
Mantis, mantis
Upon the door,
What secrets
Do you store?
When walking stick
Does implore,
Do you share your wisdom
Or knock him to the floor?
Entry 5: Mesquite
Boy: “Mesquite, how old are you?”
Mesquite: “Does it make sense to ask this of one who’s both alive and dead? My roots remain unborn to the light but half of my many arms
are ancient or rotten and the others are as green and wet as a nursery of baby nopales. Do you understand?”
Boy: Stares perplexed
Entry 6: Nopalitas
Young nopalitas
Await their chance
To become pageant queens
Crowned in green, yellow, pink, and purple.
They crowd and multiply,
The volume and variety of their chisme
Building along
Yet never diminishing
Their tender prickly beauty