Their curved headdresses
Are both
of "devil's claw"
They summon spirits
And evoke emotions raw.
The
jungle guru
For staff he holds a snake
He utilizes fear
To cause his flock to
quake.
The desert shaman
Wears cholla as a robe
And prays for peace and light
Throughout
the globe.
Anchored to the Annex wall are two blue
herons. One flies with legs back and the
other stands amid water grasses. In order to fire the ceramic pieces, they were
cut into kiln-fitting, smaller pieces using a jagged line to vaguely simulate
feather layers. The airborne bird shares
the heavens with a blazing sun and a somber moon.
Chameleon
Wiser than seven,
Warier than adolescent fawn,
This transient child
Is hawking her life for whims
Of perhaps-parents.
Swift cuddlings
And insistent demands;
Already reluctant
To show the pictures
Of lipsticks and eyeshadow
Which are not prized
In this household.
Hiding her small self
Behind the social worker's
Hard sell.
She has clear, blue eyes
Which cannot
Conceal
Pain.
July 27, 1980
