they lived in the Sonoran heart
gathering cholla buds
mesquite pods, prickly
pear cactus, saguaro
when the desert lowlands
flash flooded the arroyos filled
with brown water for their fields
the tribe then farmed corn
tepary beans, and squash
when the summer rains failed
they sometimes starved
in an old photograph
taken by a white man
an O’odham man and woman
stand beside their brush home,
near them a small dog
is scratching its ear,
their heads are slightly bowed
and they are barefoot
with toes spread wide
on the desert sand
the woman wears a borrowed
gingham dress with puffy sleeves
the man wears a white shirt
buttoned at the collar
that hangs on his arms
as if it were burning him
there were two photographs taken
in the other one
they were told to be naked.
Ed Higgins’ poems and short fiction have appeared in various print and online journals including recently: Triggerfish Critical Review, Statement Magazine, and Tigershark Magazine, among others. Ed is Professor Emeritus, English Dept., and Writer-in-Residence at Quaker-heritage George Fox University. He is also Asst. Fiction Editor for Brilliant Flash Fiction. Ed has a small organic farm in Yamhill, OR, raising a menagerie of animals—including a rooster named StarTrek.