Looking up from the valley I see Polvadera
And Pedernal crown the elevated
Tableland. Silhouettes never to forget –
An upside down cone and a majestic,
Strongly magnetic flathead.

Stagnant stubs of an angel’s candle
After it burned her sensitive
Palm, then sealed each molten core.
Was she working under the volcano,
Forging a future out of gold lore?

Valles erupted, to become the Baca
Ranch, granted by Iturbide who, in the
Shameless style of Bonaparte, Napoleon,
Had himself crowned emperor of Mexico,
All lands west from Nuevo León.

Later, oil millions flowed from Abilene.
No one walked the “No Trespassing” pastures
Of the caldera except the largest elk herd
In all New Mexico, and, before the
Lung cancer really started to hurt,

The Marlboro Man. Now, to the whole world
The land I consider to be my backyard is as
Familiar as their own. It is rather a pest
Having to share your realized dream because
It is synonymous with The American West.