hidden between 
the skin of her canteen 
Annie’s secret stash 
the hinterland map, a note 
and a wad of ransom cash 

she has no need for legacy 
a lichen etched name 
on a herbaria marquee 
only to find her love daughter 
Tala Rosalee 

more than one seek 
the outlaw’s reward 
Annie’s last bit of cash 
now lies at the bottom 
of the gorge

No one has seen Annie since she left Tucson full of bourbon and mind-twisting memories of Bad Jack before he turned bad. Annie’s mare shifts from hoof to hoof, tied to a yucca in the middle of nowhere. There must be a billion stars in the night sky, and the moon hangs precariously, tethered to nothing over this godforsaken hell hole of a two-bit dustbowl town. A horsefly buzzes the mare’s tail incessantly.

a ripple 
disappears on the rocks 
of a stream 
where Annie bathes naked 
except for her snakeskin boots 

it’s a fine sunset 
turning the sky blood red 
and the faint trail 
leading to the horizon 
will be gone by morning 

—From Shadows of the Saguaro: The Wiles of Cactus Annie May and Bad Jack Muldoon, a series of responsive tanka tales by Lester and Miko

Vicki Miko

is a retired television producer. She is a widely published poet in the haiku and tanka communities. Her illustrations have been featured in Billboard Magazine and displayed on Nagle Outdoor billboards. She was nominated for the McKnight Foundation Art Award for creating gardening workbooks for the JD Rivers’ Children’s Garden in Minneapolis. She lives in Southern California with her humoring husband.

Author’s website: http://www.vickimiko.com/

Michael H. Lester

is a CPA, attorney, and poet who lives in Los Angeles, California. His writing has been widely published in prestigious poetry journals, has been translated into several languages, and has won numerous awards worldwide. Michael’s recent publications include two illustrated children’s books, Cassandra and the Strange Tale of the Blue-Footed Boobies and Johnny and Frankie’s Summer Sleepover, as well as a book of poetry, Notes from a Commode: Volume I. A fourth book, The Squeeping Catterwhip, is now available on Amazon.