Santa Fe

She said she'd meet me down in Santa Fe
So we could do the Farolita Walk
She'd hire a car and we would drive all day
To Albuquerque or to Window Rock

Then watch the bonfires burn on Canyon Lane
As dusk descended and the daylight fade
But she was held up in the winter rain
And I was unavoidably delayed

She said she'd tie her waist-length hair in braids
And wear the sweater that I bought her once
And we'd make love for three or four decades
Then break to have a shower and lunch

And she'd have me cut her bangs and come
Down with her to the Indian trading post
But she heard a different drum
When I was spirited away by ghosts

I know she loved me
And I loved her too
But love will make a puppet
Out of you

She said she didn't want my money, no
Despite her personal circumstance, and mine
And I respected that and spoke as though
All things were well, but listener I was blind

I walked right into such a tangled knot
While she foresaw the trap ahead
And shared some blessed second thoughts
And left me gazing at an empty bed

She said she'd meet me down in Santa Fe
She said she'd meet me down in Santa Fe