New California Industry

I used to know exactly where I was
Now I must stand in the center
of the San Joaquin Valley
heart of my heart
to even locate where I belong

I look to the north—I see prisons
I scan the south—I see only prisons
where half a century ago wild flowers
spread a Persian carpet for guests

Now I pick my way through shattered lives
broken bottles
and half-buried guns and knives

I cannot forget
and do not allow myself to forget
that once I saw a giant condor
in the azure sky
and thought it was a mythical roc—

The only birds in these skies
are crime watch helicopters
swooping darkly above barred vans
seeking more desert land for prisons

Notes

McDaniel, Wilma. (2001) Borrowed Coats. Hanging Loose Press, Brooklyn, New York.
Courtesy University of California, Merced Library. Copyright owned by the Regents of the University of California.