My first time in New Mexico, before I ever
moved here, we drove north of Taos at sunrise;
my mother and I wound around a narrow road leading
out of a town, heading into a quality of light
I had never seen before—droplets of suspended
sunlight illuminated poverty, and everything beyond
darkened into silhouettes. The day promised beauty.
Heading toward the Rio Grande, we passed two dogs
dead on the road, lying still and bloodied like actors
from a Western; the German Shepherd had blood
pooled around his mouth—a killing so recent
the liquid glistened in the sun.
—
Kimberly Mathes teaches English at San Juan College in Farmington, NM. She currently is pursuing a MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas El Paso. In 2006, she was a recipient of a NEH grant which allowed her to travel through Central America and southern Mexico writing poetry.
200 New Mexico Poems 