Colonia's Chorus

Each day- there's birdsong ( which is nice) and with time I've grown used to the grunting of hogs as they slurp their slop, stinking and abuzz with swarming flies. But there's also barking dogs and the periodic cock-a-doodle-doo of many roosters. Yes, the colonia has its chorus- the chirp of a lone cricket, a far away neigh. And a spotted frog that sits in the outhouse, signaling scarce, precious rain. And a runt pup I'm fattening up on Spam. There are all these creatures and not much else- just monotony and aggravation, heat and desperation and the stark awareness that the desert's not for the weak... and lately, there's my thoughts; " It's time for a change." It sounds like a politician's campaign slogan but isn't- mere dreams dried- up, though clung to. There's this, the struggle of life in a shantytown- cardboard houses and garbage burning... But there's the marvel too, that just over that distant, grey hill is Sunland Park, New Mexico; with it's casino and shopping malls, grocery stores and buffets and swimming pools too, filled with cool, clean water.