Ojo Caliente- Hot Springs
By Virginia Barrett
On the red cliff overlooking
the springs a raven lands. With
her beak she picks up a piece
of dry grass, cocks her head
as if offering it to another, then
releases it. Steam rises up to
the gray sky. Raining, we still
soak in the pool, hotter than our
fever-less selves. Drops hit
the water and leap up again, small
clear eruptions; iron is beneficial
for the blood. A man gets wet
walking with a sign: Please
Whisper—these are ancient
waters. Still, some can’t keep
their voices down. In the desert,
rain is a blessing. We hold our
faces to the sky, thirst to be
heard as the raven flies off with
her vanishing gestures toward
the hidden source.
Virginia Barrett’s books of poetry include Between Looking, (Finishing Line Press, forthcoming, 2019) Crossing Haight, and I Just Wear My Wings. Her work has most recently appeared in the Writer’s Chronicle, Narrative, What Rough Beast, Roar: Literature and Revolution by Feminist People, Ekphrastic Review, Weaving the Terrain (Dos Gatos Press), and Poetry of Resistance: Voices for Social Justice (University of Arizona Press). She received a 2017 writer’s residency grant from the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of Taos, NM. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.