when I think of Tubac,
I remember THE TERMINATOR,
written in all caps,
on a blank VHS cassette.
I remember Saguaros,
and lying facedown on the kitchen counter,
and cold tweezers.
I remember little girls
in one-piece swimsuits,
and little boys
in corduroy (Ocean Pacific) short shorts,
chasing each other around a backyard
swimming pool in Tucson.
I remember suntanned mothers laughing
over Diet Coke and rum.
I remember boxing, with boxing gloves on,
and being knocked out, blackoutdown,
by a girl older and larger than myself.
I remember the children being removed to a distant room
while a man dismantled the front-yard fence
with his bare hands after Super Bowl XXI.
I remember wave pools as large as an ocean,
sunburns, bites, calamine, aloe.
keith anthony francese
1.4.2022
