Pavant Pavane

"It's wrong to view a samovar with an eye to making it pound nails . . . or to write books so they will make a hotter fire." -V. Shklovsky

Another hesitation step,
Proceeding down the corridor
In the shadow of mining camps,

Each effort to absorb what is
Becoming a pause in what was,
So we gradually go on.

The Spaniards proceeded near here
On some defunct mission to save
The dancing souls of the pagans

From Lord knows what conveniences
Life in these rocks once provided.
Jesuits, Mormons, and Baptists

Hold the keys to eternities
Like the suites of cheap motel rooms
With adjoining locked, bolted doors

To be had for a song not far
From this hesitant, resistant
Wilderness ready to be dust

Again to everyone. Humans
Don't really belong in Utah.
Not one stone here was carved for us.