Did you ever see them?
Little orbs of obsidian
Grape sized
Someone dubbed them Apache Tears
You used to find them
At many volcanic sites around the Southwest
Molten glass blown skyward
Falling back as Apache Tears
Luz lays in bed at her son’s
Hooked up to oxygen for her asthma
Blood pressure pills every day
She lies thin and yellow as old paper
She is alone all day
While her son works
Until he comes home to watch television
Her husband was an Apache too
A Marine veteran of World War Two
Older than she and long gone too
Luz hangs on to her life’s thin thread
Perhaps because she is Apache
Perhaps because she is human

Chris Lovette
Tucson, AZ
May 2017