A Tale of the Pleiades
On the longest night
they glow in the east,
a glittering diamond clasp—
sisters who flee their father
who decide to die together,
who escape to the heavens
to find a new home,
who shine from there
on Coyote. Found out,
they let him prevail,
let him ride to the stars
on the back of the youngest
who throws him off
when he cannot keep
his hands or his penis
to himself—
And though he falls
to earth and dies,
that does not stop him.
Bird songs tell
how the sisters rise
in their diadem of safety
while Coyote howls,
incorrigible
and immortal.
Cynthia Anderson lives in the Mojave Desert near Joshua Tree National Park. Her award-winning poems have appeared in journals such as Askew, Dark Matter, Apercus Quarterly, Whale Road, Knot Magazine, and Origami Poems Project. She is the author of five collections—”In the Mojave,” “Desert Dweller,” “Mythic Rockscapes,” and “Shared Visions I” and “Shared Visions II.” She frequently collaborates with her husband, photographer Bill Dahl. Cynthia co-edited the anthology A Bird Black As the Sun: California Poets on Crows & Ravens.
Inlandia: A Literary Journey 