San Miguel de Allende, September 2016

Everything is sacred

The growling gutter-dogs

And the white dove winging her way

Across an indigo sky

Tired Mary drowned in roses

Her face upturned to Heaven

Everything is sacred

The bent old woman

Hair wild as silver wire

Clapping her hands and stamping

To the mariachi music

Everything is sacred

The white horse tied and waiting

Its gleaming coat newly brushed

Cocks its tail to send a stream of piss

Against fresh-scrubbed cobblestone

Everything is sacred

Bright breezes catch the colored flags

And thunderheads darken distant hills

Cathedral bells call for the faithful

Who kiss the bloody feet of saints

Everything is sacred

The black hearse blocking traffic

While angels spin in feathered stone

Vaqueros swagger under hats

Dark eyes grinning at pretty girls

In dresses soft as cotton candy

Everything is sacred

The silence in the zendo

Where my thoughts fly like cut balloons

Following flocks of singing birds

Away toward the setting sun

Black as writing on an empty page