In a little-known town
In a little old house
There is a cypress shelf
Laden with odds and ends
Some days
When the masters are about their ways
The little odds and ends
Wake up and play
The wooden deer dancers
Prance and dance
Ever celebrating like it was their last chance
The badger pot
ever looking for its prey
Still with its memory
Of its maker in Paquimé
And little head of clay
Chats with the arrows
They tell each other stories
One of fire and the others of sparrows
The poor entombed fish
Stares at the painting
Of a river whose likeness it had swam before
Always hoping, always waiting
For the time that is no more.
There is a rumbling noise outside
And in all haste
The odds and ends get back into place.
The man and wife have come home
The little girl is with them as usual
And once again
The shelf is still