Afternoon thunderstorm

Devouring the reddened sky-
Loose tangle (knotted throats)
Of feathered wind - tongue
Stuck to the screendoor.

The gnawing apart of driftwood-
Of bone (of erection)
Of salted mica shards - battered -
Lips coated in morning.

The (tumbling of) fall - listless
Saguaros, restless, pale in
The autumn light - smoldering.

Moth Tongue

Flick - of battered salt wing.

Mouth curved open in the waning -
        Light.
                                     in the waning -
        Heat.

This dust, gathering on palm,
Frond of bone plated moon.

Scattering of smoke - wisp -
As street lamp gorges,
       Snipping moths, tongues

Splayed like sunset.

Loose gravel

The crack of road- as wind is let through,
        Hushed pebbles, sweating in
Patina heat. Mumbling of tire rut,

Of dead horse track. Under foot-
It snaps like dried husk.

My feet- trail sore - like whipped sands,
Mouthful of sky. Road made of clay-

Where grackles spit, sputter over loose feather- over cowhide

Over my sweat lifting like a mist-
As rock is smashed deeper into the earth.

-joseph delgado