Globe

 "Globe" appeared at MOJAVE HEART (now defunct) September 2019.

Globe

twenty years later

still old open-pit copper mines

less mountains more pyramid tailings

small worn houses stacked on scrub hills

catclaw juniper cactus

small library nobody uses

highway 60 slithering through Cobre Valley

out to reservations

Salt River and White Mountains beyond

Pinals rising just to south—

hike up an hour you'll be in pines

downtown still attempting life

despite new Wal-Mart in Miami

the old movie theater

used to be an opera house way back

burned down

replaced by smaller place with four theaters

you can catch the latest Spiderman

two new bars—

one Irish and out of place

one a trendier sports bar made to look like a dive

or a dive made to look like a sports bar

with lots of tvs

microbrews on tap

new greasy spoon right on Broad Street

La Luz del Día

owned and operated by half-Apache sisters

where you can watch your huevos rancheros slathered in red meat sauce—

if you're vegetarian

they'll handpick out the chunks

natives from San Carlos and Fort Apache

Mexicans—

just arrived or first and second generation—

retiree white folks

or miners

faces dark and leathery

big city style café making espressos

and cappuccinos for the few tourists

plus regular coffee for locals

including the Globe Democratic party:
four old guys who meet once or twice a week

teenagers sitting on couches in the café

not even buying anything

will leave town as soon as they can

whites and natives and latinos dressed in black

staring at phones

sharing funny videos

of life in the Real World—

Phoenix oozing closer

plans to widen highway 60—

trailer park in Superior down the road

bought out by Circle K gas station

tenants kicked out

to power weekend ATV warriors

and future commuters—

go to Safeway

weekly food-buy

head north into mountains

to my tower

to look for fire