Buttermilk Country

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.......................................... …Rakhehla is talking
She speaks to Pahn ...and a friend
and the words Rakhehla says..............
...............................indicate
that she got pregnant .......years
........................................................ago
and it was Pahn’s child...............
..............that she gave away

Pahn sits by himself.............................
playing with his flutes
listening
.............and feeling an excitement
..............................................rising in his chest as
he thinks of that lost child
...............................that is his
...........................and could perhaps
........................................................be found again

And Rakhehla relates.........................
(in her mock-dramatic way)
................of the experience of a child
.............................................................ripped away
.......................................from her

His question forms..............................

and she says seriously.................................
that the child changed her.................
in a way
that she didn’t want to be................
................................changed

and these words
..............................................are a revelation to him
...........................an opening …

…His image of Rakhehla
melds
with the Buttermilk Country—
descending hills...................
of aspen........ and meadow................
sagebrush ......and willow.....................................

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