She came to us...to me, hungry and bruised a short while ago. Seasons changed and Red skies filled our bug-eyed goggles as we looked to the sky. Dust cloths covering our mouths and noses. Here she comes the Red mother, the Harvest cloud gusting through. My whole family lined up and down our vineyard and throughout the family- sized garden with sacks and baskets in hand. Ready to gather up the fruits and vegetables Red mother will ripen in mere seconds before she says goodbye for another six months. That night as the women folk stood laughing and cooking in the kitchen and the rest of the family celebrated. I told her, while I stared into the sky at the blue water planet far off, that if she stayed with me she wouldn’t be hungry no more. In this place I told her we could grow good vegetables, I know would give her heart a thrill. She then spoke of sins and a past catching up to her. I told her, in this place, when you stay gone too long someone comes looking for you. When you need to talk, there’s a chair on the porch. And when there’s trouble, the rifles behind the door. In this place, we’re all devils.
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