I marvel,
over six months,
as crews,
of master
craftsmen,
mostly
undocumented,
give birth
to my house,
overlooking
Rio Grande’s
valley.
I watch as raw hunks
of sandstone
bewitch
into new life
as Anasazi-style
walls.
Slabs
of the same rock
sculpted
into geometric
mosaics
of outdoor
walkways
and portals.
Amaze
as a Rumsford
fireplace,
known
for its high heat,
transforms
out of nothing
more than
firebrick,
cinder block,
and plaster,
into a work
of art,
reminding
of Spain’s
Middle Ages.
And so
the entire house
evolves
in that spirit.
I begin to wonder,
as the birthright
of countless
newborns,
of alien parents,
is in effect,
stripped
from the Constitution,
could
the government
call into question
the legality
of my house,
conceived
by undocumented
foreign labor,
to exist
on American soil?
I imagine
coming home
one day
to an empty lot,
not even a trace
of the concrete
underpinnings.
Posted on one
of many Aspen
I planted
over the years,
a document
claiming to be
an executive
order.
It reads:
“Your home,
propagated
by illegal
foreign labor,
has lost
its birthright
to shelter you.
The government
has no recourse
but to remove it
from your
property.
You’re welcome
to rebuild
with trades
of authentic
American
descent.”
What can I say,
as I look down
at Pueblos,
diminished
by untold eras,
so they must
have seemed,
of America’s
dispossession?
What can I say?
Dick Altman writes in the high, thin, magical air of Santa Fe, NM, where, at 7,000 feet, reality and imagination often blur. He is published in Santa Fe Literary Review, American Journal of Poetry, Fredericksburg Literary Review, Foliate Oak, Landing Zone, Cathexis Northwest Press, Humana Obscura, Haunted Waters Press, Split Rock Review, The Ravens Perch, Beyond Words, The New Verse News, Wingless Dreamer, Blueline, Sky Island Journal, and others here and abroad. His work also appears in the first edition of The New Mexico Anthology of Poetry published by the New Mexico Museum Press. Pushcart Prize nominee and poetry winner of Santa Fe New Mexican’s annual literary competition, he has authored some 250 poems, published on four continents.
