by Aaron Smith
Whether you’ve visited or haven’t,
Friend, you know this scene.
It lives true blue in your red American heart.
I promise.
Allow me to tell you where we’ve been.
First there is travel.
And then there is traveling.
That’s what we were doing,
Happy enough in our mini van, a rental,
We scuttled fast enough,
We shuttled slow enough,
Northbound to Santa Fe on the Turquoise Trail.
The Turquoise Trail is deep blue-green.
How the human heart swells and swoons
On sight of the truly majestic:
The high desert in bloom,
Following the seasonal,
Promised monsoons of summer.
And you know the couple,
The two sweetly graying proprietors of the chocolate shop,
And you know the chocolate,
Absolutely artisanal,
Neither crass nor bougie.
“Man and wife,” Mrs. C told me, smiling warmly and wide,
“…but also his girlfriend, 15 years!”
“Well that’s even better!” I replied.
Then we two shared one chuckle,
Friends from strangers,
Chocolate coquette and
New Mexico wanderer.
I like to think of them
Living the sweetness at the end of sweet dreams,
The sweetness that is always just beginning,
Mother and grandmother of every true blessing.
I picture them hemmed in happily,
Steeping inside their charming,
Slightly falling, stucco-on-adobe dwelling
Perfected by time, well above ground,
Yet miles beneath those cornflower blue skies
That dazzle the senses and color the seas,
Even from their station far off the Gulf,
Forming a firmament the length and width of old New Mexico.
It is the highway of your imagination,
Your happy past and hopeful present.
One enters with a playful warning,
Under a sign that says “Sorry, We’re High”.
Here, efficiency has no play,
No corporate promotion.
Pull off to your right
Heading north to Santa Fe,
Where the rhythm of living remains intact,
Way off the fast track,
At home in curiosity,
They’ll be there.
Radiating love and joyful anarchy,
Donning the uniform, their mismatched tie dies,
And bestowing voyagers with confident assurances
That we’d love the lavendor salt with the milk mix,
The margarita salt with the dark mix,
And we did.
And we did.
And we did.