Each day-
there's birdsong
( which is nice)
and with time
I've grown used to
the grunting of hogs
as they slurp their slop,
stinking and abuzz
with swarming flies.
But there's also barking
dogs
and the periodic
cock-a-doodle-doo
of many roosters.
Yes, the colonia
has its chorus-
the chirp of a lone cricket,
a far away
neigh.
And a spotted frog
that sits in the outhouse,
signaling scarce, precious rain.
And a runt pup
I'm fattening up
on Spam.
There are all these
creatures
and not much else-
just monotony
and aggravation,
heat
and desperation
and the stark awareness
that the
desert's
not for the weak...
and lately,
there's my thoughts;
" It's time for a change."
It sounds like a politician's
campaign slogan
but isn't-
mere dreams
dried- up, though clung to.
There's this,
the struggle of life
in a shantytown-
cardboard houses
and garbage burning...
But there's the marvel
too,
that just over
that distant, grey hill
is Sunland Park, New Mexico;
with it's casino
and shopping malls,
grocery stores and buffets
and swimming pools
too,
filled
with cool, clean
water.