Northern New Mexico
How many times living here
at 7,000 feet half way up
into clouds have I sought
in my mind to climb the sky
climb stars hand over hand
only to tumble back down
until lightening’s next rage
or meteors’ next rain
that I observe not from below
as most humans but eye
to eye or even toe
to figurative toe

Thin air’s clarity tempts me
to reach up and pluck stars off
dark’s infinite tree of light
and simply amaze holding them
at arm’s length in my palm
Gifts of living in sky’s garden
of the heights where each night’s
a radiant new season and fruit
glows ripe for the picking