Evening Illusion

THE STONE VALLEY

EVENING ILLUSION

When the sun sinks

Beyond Alcalde,

The watery light

Wavers up to the porcelain walls

In waves, layer on layer,

Slow and foamless.

It is not the sea.

The tamarisks which sway

Are not sea-tamarisks

Rooted in wet sand.

Here are the stone mountains.

But the Spanish women

Walk with dahlias

In their arms, whispering:

"Cruz has bedded

The goats, Diegito

Will go tomorrow

To the mountain to cut wood.

And is there water in the

Sea, do ships come in

Full of men, my

Mother, grandmother, her mother,

Ah...

The mist is dry as the sand.

They promenade

Two by two

On the faint beach.