Mesquite Littered

Dusty reservation, dented sign,
speed trap on an empty road
hoping for native indigents
mesquite littered highway faded grey.

OK-corral court house,
classic roof on tilted columns
stolen from Athenian architects
with quotes from Pericles in dirty frames.

These jagged hills so far from wine-dark seas,
what tribulation could be added to the tasks of Heracles,
or messenger sped wing-footed like Hermes,
I spy mighty Athena lounging on an outcrop mocking ibices.

In stark O’Keefeian contrast, painted valleys,
invite escaped ladrones to their deaths,
the thunderheads have gathered like warriors
drowning sinners in their mortal purgatories.

And on a side road, cattle grills rattle,
filled with snakes.