It's Only Raven Laughing

Bonnie Buckley Maldonado has resided in Southwestern New Mexico since 1959. She is a professor and dean emeritus in education and counseling, Western New Mexico University, remaining active in her field. A Western woman, she was born into a pioneer Montana ranching family. She possesses an abiding fascination for the rural West and its people.

Her book, Montana, Too was named a finalist for Best Woman Writer at High Plains Book Festival, 2008. This is her third volume of poetry. Her work appears in the award winning anthology, Montana Women Writers: Geography of the Heart, edited by Caroline Patterson.

She lives in the mountains near Silver City, New Mexico with her husband, Librado and a bevy of rescue animals. She may be contacted via email, or by writing P.O. Box 53169, Pinos Altos, NM 88053.

Centering
My mind crashes
in a wrong turn.
I am caught
in a narrow wash
too steep to climb.

A wasp traverses
my sun-browned hand,
and my resolve shoves
the ’69 Chevy pickup
toward Red Rock.

Captured here
with space to laugh
and scream,
I dream the Burros,
gas gauge on empty,
me on still and clear.