poem
Volume 23, Number 4

In Taos

Eating scrumptious Chili Relleno en Nogado
stuffed with ground beef and pears
pomegranate walnut cream sauce
at a charming restaurant nestled among
hundreds of adobed art galleries
everyone a writer or an artist or a sculptor
where everyone has at least one
installation or press or literary prize
you wonder why in the high desert
there are no low-flow showers or toilets
the AC is set to a constant 60°
why you can’t find the recycling center

Driving around with your glass,
cans, plastic water bottles and newspapers
the recycling center turns out to be an art studio
no one knows where the center is
but the woman at the information kiosk finally
gives you correct directions
doesn’t think it’ll be open on a Saturday

After you walk around and
around the huge rusted garbage bins
the guard tells you plastic
is recycled in Santa Fe
an hour and a bit away
how you could drive it there
or just throw it away


—Laura LeHew