Standing tall
her skin a chantilly cream
beneath clustered tufts
from long-erect stalks—
displayed in golden waterfall sprays
once a northern evergreen
tiny and new
she is sweet lavender
in midsummer
she flies hanging vertically
on wet limestone rocks
growing in all directions
slightly grooved face
I kiss
veins free-forked
and bold
she is my Colorado River
in a dividing plane
sunshine cactus blossom
in my painted desert
