for juarez
we loved green street lights
and smeltertown graves
to remember villa
or the river
and madero's campground
of a victory march
that turned to hanging
where only the smelter remembers—
its barely orange slag
and run off
its copper turning
to blackened dreams
and unspoken dares
rain driver
catches a crash
road spiller
like death, resurrection
plays another rhyme
w/ new ink possibilities—
it drives
it drives
and then the sound
a sound like angels
and all wings on high
in the place
of internment
let grey
know the crows
and each stones
name until
an earthquake
will swallow
them all
or offer enough
of a chance
to carry them off
especially
the hung for
relentless stealing
for what is
a man but
vacant bones
his eyes
like candles in
a skull
the shadows
or whispers of
light to
show the way
through
the blackened
grounds
Lawrence Welsh's eighth book of poetry, Begging for Vultures: New and Selected Poems, 1994-2009, was published in 2011 by the University of New Mexico Press. A Southwest and El Paso Times bestseller, this collection was named a Southwest Book of the Year by the Pima/Tucson Library association. Previous books include Carney Takedown from Unlikely Books. Photo by Richard Baron.
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