Alcatraz, In Kino Bay

For Tony Beasley

Skulls rattle the sand in an off-shore wind
Full of saguaro, cholla and offal
Carrion on the claws of vultures
Kingbirds of the naked sun

The spine of a frigate bird lies upon the shore
Under the shadow of Tiburon, the shark
I pick it up and it sings in my hand
Conjuring ghosts of memory

A depot, where a Yaqui waits with her son
Beneath black shawls in the hot sun
Silence, except for the buzz of flies
And the flap of vultures overhead

In the air dance shadows, phantoms!
A husband, two years an illegal alien
An ailing boy and no money for the medico
And Mama Grande at home, on her death bed
A crucifix across her breast like desert sand

Head bent, the Yaqui waits with her son
Beneath black shawls in the hot sun

She dreams of her lover in Hermosillo
Of toys for the ninos
And dresses in shop windows
She dreams of food
And the taste of beer on the dry tongue
She dreams, but wakes to the empty belly
And the miles to go

So we give them a ride to Puerto Penasco
A drink of flat water from a hot canteen
And speak of life in broken syllables
As if we understood anything
Two gringos in an Oldsmobile

In the barrio she sings sad songs
Playing a broken, three string guitar
Her boy shoots marbles on the concrete floor
While I stare at a picture of a tiny blue child
Not two hours dead
“Mi favorito!" she says
One of eleven now gone

“Mexico!” I sigh
Placing the bones back on the shore
Gazing up into the empty sky

By: D.B. Luttenberger, 4/3/1980