David Marwitz picked up the title, “EL POETE,” following years of emails, phone calls, and texts with one of his nieces while she was living in Spain. It stuck.
Carly, the 3-legged coonhound with a beautiful “paint job.”
A BEAUTIFUL PAINT JOB
by david marwitz
Abused, shot, run over, tossed aside
Now safe, she never leaves my side
Always with me, sleeps at the foot of the bed
We get up together, leave and return home together
A beautiful paint job
Her color black and white, touches of brown
Dark chestnut eyes that no longer flash fear
She attracts without trying, flying lint to Velcro
May I pet her? What's her name?
Shot, run over, left for dead, I say
People gasp, some with tears, silence following like a prayer
Then a last "good girl" and goodbye as they leave
In defiance of that abuse, we close each day in beauty
An evening car ride out on Pinto Canyon Road
To catch the sun before it slides behind the Chinati Mountains
A changing canvas of colors that dance until dark, if we make it in time
Tonight, we stop but a few miles out to pull off the road
I roll down the windows and slip a Guy Clark CD into the dash
Before moving to the hood of the pickup, taking in the lyrics
I sing the words softly as Carly props her head on my leg
“Ain’t no money in poetry, that’s what sets the poetry free.
I’ve had about all the freedom I can stand.”
As clouds shift in silence, I stop singing, Carly raises her head
Just the two of us as the sky bleeds into Mexico
Bands of orange, magenta, rose, gray primer blue
Blushes of purple, hues that shift into nighttime darkness