teacher on a burro

she sends me a picture
of her on a burro, it's a brown
beast, stocky
and low, a thick tail,
its ears up, plowing along.
she's on her notepad
typing, grading papers, while the burro
slowly moves across the dusty
ridge overlooking
the mountains.
she's wearing a poncho
striped yellow and red,
a thin line
of jagged green diamonds.
her sombrero blocks the sun.
you imagine that
the burro smells like coffee.
the ground smells
like coffee. those green mountains
also, smell like fresh beans
of coffee.
she gives the animal
a firm strike from her
booted heel, but it goes
no quicker down the hill.