Reconciliation
I wheel my chair through Mojave sands until I sink There I sit sun baking my spongy bones so brittle that when I stand instead of feeling shin push into ankle ankle press into heel heel slam into a shoe of nails my pelvic bones snap and I fall slow motion onto the warm warm grains
I am bleached white nothing but a heap of white sprigs He comes with his little girl Holding her hand he guides her eyes to the lizard a flicker of iridescent pink but her interest is the white twig at her feet She bends and with a small perfect hand lifts what once had been my aching finger Look Daddy a treasure He leans down to admire her find She puts it in the pocket of his plaid shirt and the two of them walk on My skull opens wide swallows the desert and sings hosanna to the dry dry air