Flea market booths, displays, a quickened, one-day settlement in Albuquerque winter sun. Talking politics, resistance, why I’d moved back to my birth country, to fight imposter dimwit don.
Current partner in the fight said, "back in the 50’s in the army, Korea, black guys, it wasn’t so good, but gradual now, getting better." Moving in, conspiratorially, soft confidence, I told him, a Navajo craftsman, "there’s a rainbow inside me, red, white, black, brown, yellow, no blue though, that’s outside me, up there, big, overhead, what all those colors inside reach for."
Under that same blue, later, on my route, innocence raced pell mell. Two tiny latina chicas, long whirling, swirling, black hair. They raced in parking lot dirt, alongside Tony’s Taco truck, quitting for the day. Big sister leading, younger sister trailing, both happy, squealing meteors.
Me, sciatica-struck, hobbling with new wood cane, making jokes with other cane-wielding citizens: "You one of the three Legged people too?"
After embarrassing fall, teetering over into a vendor’s display, where I had chosen an Indian bag, flute player design, for sister-in-law. I turned to go back, a small Indian girl in my path, moved just a fraction to miss her and lost balance, crashing thud, crumple into middle of display, hearing glass shattering as I landed.
The curious gathered, I rolled to the side, apologizing for whatever I broke, I’ll pay for that, I heard glass break. Someone handed me the hardwood cane, I, weaker than I could accept, inched up in some pain, you alright? choiring at me. A teenage Latina gave me a water bottle, back to infancy, dependent, on the kindness of strangers.
Dizzy head spinning, gathered up crumpled, found the street for home. A straight as a Navajo arrow vapor trail shot over me, headed down to the targeted far horizon. I craned my neck to the limits of pain, trying to capture the white puff streak’s beginnings, not able to see, not able to, not able.
All those colors inside, moved outside me now, like separate, endless skies, all with their hands extended, towards me, helping me up, and up, and up.
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