I found her curled beneath a creosote bush, three miles out, where no one ever goes. Her parched lips mouthed, "I knew you'd come." I nursed her in my shelter, beneath the red stone cliff. Water first, in tiny sips, then slowly bits of food. At nightfall we sat across the fire, her eyes assaying me. "Coyote?" she whispered. "And Raven, too?" I gave no answer. We made love three times while the full moon arced. With each c...

My mind is filled with poisons      hemlock cork-stopped knackered bottles      snakeroot each filled with words that burn      mandrake and smother and sharply bite       foxglove what once was pure and live      monkshood that's dying now between us      belladonna as sure as my garden grows      

Forty-six years ago, Bobby opened the doors and let us in. Battered and peeling even then, it was our sanctuary of truth. We learned fast to come and go in groups on its sketchy street and did we ever. The music was loud, the drinks cheap, and the light low enough to mantle the next morning's regret. Going to the ladies was a euphemism you learned quickly and wasn't for the faint-hearted. Then the world decided yes, you'r...