Driving On Flames To Visit Dad

we picnic at the foot of Picacho Peak
sized like ants

we’ve crossed the desert buzzing like bees
meanwhile dad’s chasing women in lacy Indio

lipstick on the floor
he laughs about his latest conquest

dad dad
we’re still in Arizona

I yell into the cell phone
ok boy see you when you get here

later inside the mud canyon
of the Coachella Valley

the highway
boldly pierces toward town

stones bubble up
and bust open

the mountains yawn
a thousand years