Kiva
by
Amethyst

in old light ghosts of us
reach across a ruined floor
where our history stopped
suddenly, inexplicably
we couldn't tell each other why
could only point to new meanings
painted on more recent stone
an unfinished story

our hands forever seek to touch
answers suspended in dust rays over
the guardian bones of our sacrifices
whose warnings litter the ground
we do not heed
dreams summon us back endlessly
to this sacred place
where we cannot stay
and never left

 

Selected for publication in ILP anthology Poetry's Elite, The Best Poets of 2000