"Desert Horse" by Jenn Ashton
Flying over Tonopah, NV by J. Xiang
I could've been a cowboy, I said,
if it weren't for the gender- and race- and being
one-point-five-centuries-removed- thing. I never learned to
ride a horse or run a ranch but on Google
Maps you can upload three-hundred-and-sixty
degree pano pics of wherever you want and the
hills never look like what you'd think
from the flat shadows on the ridge. Walk
out and see the dead grass under you. Nothing
has grown here for years and you know it 'cause all
the broken-up fences/dust-bowl railways/lonely
barn shards are still there, are where it hurts
to walk and burrs stick on your socks and you smell like
fire from March through November. I always thought I'd
lose you in the mountains or forests but here is fine,
too. Let me and the acres die and leave to better plains.
Cut them up and watch me from above, take me in, take
it all away, hide it under the
sun and watch it burn.
if it weren't for the gender- and race- and being
one-point-five-centuries-removed- thing. I never learned to
ride a horse or run a ranch but on Google
Maps you can upload three-hundred-and-sixty
degree pano pics of wherever you want and the
hills never look like what you'd think
from the flat shadows on the ridge. Walk
out and see the dead grass under you. Nothing
has grown here for years and you know it 'cause all
the broken-up fences/dust-bowl railways/lonely
barn shards are still there, are where it hurts
to walk and burrs stick on your socks and you smell like
fire from March through November. I always thought I'd
lose you in the mountains or forests but here is fine,
too. Let me and the acres die and leave to better plains.
Cut them up and watch me from above, take me in, take
it all away, hide it under the
sun and watch it burn.
J. Xiang is a queer, Asian-American poet, writer, and student living in California. They spend their time getting lost in mountains, fixing vintage fountain pens, and occasionally writing. Follow them on Twitter @jxiang02
North Vancouver, B.C. Artist, and Author Jenn Ashton has lived a creative life that has encompassed everything from farming to the Boardroom; from BC to Harvard and back again. Coming from an artistic family she has brought a creative flair to all her projects large and small. Jenn is known for her originality, resourcefulness, and vision. JennAshtonArt.com
