Cameo

We come purposely to find you
but arrive too late in the search.
Sandstone sorrels like
I imagine your coat to be.
Palomino hoodoo in the distance
Coal Canyon cleaves its obsidian.
Painted ridgeline jaw jags
her teeth bite periwinkle.
There’s evidence of you
so recent the stink.
Yet in the echoes
all that remains buzzes electric.
Waxen creosote hides
a wing twittered wind
If only I could see you
to believe.

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Shelli Rottschafer (she/her/ella) completed her doctorate from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque (2005) in Latin American Contemporary Literature. From 2006 until 2023, Shelli taught at a small liberal arts college in Michigan as a Spanish Professor. She also holds an MFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in Poetry from Western Colorado University, Gunnison (2025). Now she lives and writes in Colorado and New Mexico with her partner and their rescue pup.

Discover more of Shelli’s work at: http://www.shellirottschaferauthor.com

Daniel J. Combs is from Waterford, New York. He attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan, earning a B.A. in English and Communication. His passion, which has developed over the years, is photography. Daniel’s photography observes nature-made and human-made landscapes. His hope is that his pieces evoke a sense of place.

Daniel’s previous career as a sommelier enabled him to travel throughout the United States and Europe. After several years living in Burlington, Vermont, Seattle, Washington, New York City, and Ada, Michigan, he now resides in between Taos, Nuevo México, and Louisville, Colorado, with his life and creative partner, Shelli Rottschafer, and their rescued Pyrenees-Border Collie.

Discover more of Daniel’s work at: http://www.danielcombsphotography.com