Here by the deepest lake in New Mexico
Here with my love scars,
Some bronze fish,
Some old women emerging from the baths looking radiant
Here to wait for Jesus who has a favorite
Spot on the pier.
Here by a pond outside a restaurant
Where eaters can catch a fish for dinner.
I tap hello to the fish,
I encourage each hidden fish with my blessing;
As twilight approaches, I rattle my fingers
At a loping blue gull.
No disciples yet, just cowboys with angular faces;
I resettle myself, no longer lonely
For there’s love here too:
A sunburned couple amble in embrace.
—
Mary McGinnis has been writing, working, living and laughing in New Mexico since 1972. Her full-length collection Listening For Cactus was published by Sherman Asher Publishing in 1996. Her poetry has been published in over 75 journals and little magazines She has work in Good Company published by U. N. M. press. She is inspired by the beauty and austerity of the New Mexico desert.
200 New Mexico Poems 