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A Love Letter to Taos, by Irene Loy

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A wagon wheel broke

Over a hundred years ago

And a magnet formed at the base of Taos

Attracting a new type of artist to the area

Black sheep of their families, transplants

-Who belong almost nowhere but in that valley

Under the careful watch of Taos Mountain

Orbiting small circles in a large universe.

You yourselves have become magnets,

I am moved back to so many of you.

I’ve had the pleasure of reading your memoirs

Making theatre, playing improv games with you

Working alongside you, co-conspiring

Having conversations that shifted my soul.

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Taos community, you are bigger than the sum of your parts

And on your own clocks.

Lost or found, you are a collection of wily,resourceful spirits

In an otherwise unyielding place

Each one of you a resplendent, diamond sun

In a universe big enough to hold that many suns.

I wish money wasn't a thing

And the need to exchange our time and energy for it.

Then we could all retire there, at whatever age

Start communes, barter trade, make musicBend the arc of time to our internal clocks.I immediately want to drive right back.

I wish I could be there for what you do next.

I wish I could do what?s next for me there.Break some wagon wheel
And start a revolution -
The mountain didn't kick me out,

It asked me kindly to leaveAnd upon my leaving I sayGlory, glory, glory:
No land like Taos

No people like you
No time like that
In the known universe.

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‍Email: ireneloytaos@gmail.com

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