Bluebird girls waits for the gathering storm

Under sun nearly hot enough to ignite a flame,
the devotional candle melts, leaving a lardy blotch
in the compressed, sandy soil.

A bouquet of pink blooms and glossy ribbon –
dotted with the never-dry tears of acrylic dewdrops –
is wedged between two new yuccas.

A figurine of a blond girl dangles
from the center of a large wreath,
a bluebird held in her outstretched,
uplifted left hand.
Behind the girl, inky clouds build,
their enraged colors swirling forward
delivering, then leaving behind,
air made cleaner and cooler by their violence.

US 84
Guadalupe County, New Mexico