San Pedro River Nightfall
By Jeffrey AlfierBefore carp flow north and nimbus storms beat
dark paths through clear sky, any road bums bleak
beyond the breath of mule deer thinning frail
through dust rising to reclaim rights of earth.
All movement here wavers in reflection
off easy cascades of scudding minnows.
Patient coyotes, awaiting full moons,
drift through hours dragging complacent sinews.
As lovers watch hawks converge in branches
they turn their bodies loose in water,
sequestering themselves in cottonwoods,
like thrushes, even to say their farewells.
