Pedernal

You're the temple of our Aztlan
a longitudinal misfit
like the estranged, and sometimes strange
who orbit your shadow
I lose alignment in your symmetry
in the black lace of a woman
who too survived 1000 molten deaths
your snow streaked hair visible to those
with you in the early light
do they know that underneath your seasons
the fires that cast you as Juliet's breast
still burn at puberty's rim
pushing orchids and trumpet flowers
through the ash of your lovers
gathering loamy clouds to listen
to the new stories simmering in your skin
our dark goddess
standing square in a strange brew
black brush on mosque skies
steady against the frenzy of lights
Pedernal, they are kinder
to your red and yellow-haired sisters
but you and I know the truth
whichever temple they built to mask
their devotion.


Yasmeen Najmi


Cerro or Mt. Pedernal is located near Abiquiu, New Mexico