~
Four Corners Monument
Flags of the Navajo and Ute Nations
fly side by side with the flags
of New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Arizona.
Indigenous people sell frybread
and turquoise necklaces to tourists
who take pictures of each other sprawled
across the bronze marker on all-fours.
Each limb in a different state.
The analysts debate if the coordinates
of the quadripoint should actually
be 1800ft east or 2.5 miles west
but a Supreme Court ruling certifies
that the monument trumps
any scientific details.
Isn’t this how it goes with borders,
determined by more powerful opinion?
Ute and Navajo know this well.
The surrounding desert of ceaseless
cinnamon sandstone is speckled
with sagebrush and juniper trees.
Liberated each night by a celestial field
dotted with white dwarfs and blue giants.
No longitude or latitude—
declination or right ascension.
No difference between earth and sky.
~
“Catfish” John Wojtowicz grew up working on his family’s azalea and rhododendron nursery in the backwoods of what Ginsberg dubbed “nowhere Zen New Jersey.” Currently, he works as a licensed social worker and adjunct professor. He has been featured in the Philadelphia based Moonstone Poetry series, West-Chester based Livin’ on Luck series, and Rowan University’s Writer’s Roundtable on 89.7 WGLS-FM. He serves as the Local Lyrics contributor for the Mad Poet Society blog. Recent publications: Toho, Glassworks, The Tule Review, Patterson Literary Review, The Poeming Pigeon, and Schuylkill Valley Journal. Find out more at: www.catfishjohnpoetry.com