this is new mexico,
hot and thick,

sticky air and baptized
blood clotting
below orange-peel skin.

it's only too refreshing
when the hospitalized legends
can take a dip

in the local tributary,
challenging eyes on the boats

that are all
getting
out

as salmonella eggshells do
into their trashbins

and lemon-lime lesions do
unto their chests