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Heritage Shared Essays, Papers, and Poetry

Poems of Carrizo Plain by Robert Pavlik

Barn	Hay Mowers	Storage Tanks

Looking North The San Andreas ripples up your right hand side Like an offset spine Flanked by the trembling hills of the Temblor Range On the valley floor A piece of displaced sky Where Sandhill cranes whoop it up in winter. The Calientes crackle in summer heat; In late autumn antelope and elk Amble from the canyon shadows into the slanting December light. This is where the condor soared. They ate offal and multiplied. Euroamericans arrived Stole the condors’ eggs Poisoned their dead prey Struck them from the sky. Once again the great birds Tilt and wheel through the blue: Empty spaces welcome their return.   Painted Rock Wagon Clouds Come Pounding Up To The Window Clouds come pounding up to the window   Shouting and screaming to be let in   I open the door just a crack   To tell them to go away   And they push and shove and   Damn near knock me over.   When they get in they holler and shout   Play the stereo full blast   Rain and snow and hail all over the carpet   My books and magazines and last week's newspapers   Are soaked.   When they finally leave   I collapse, exhausted   The bed sheets are damp   My room is a mess   I pull down the shades  The mailman delivers a package   It's a rainbow   I stuff it in a drawer   For safekeeping.