
After six months of research and the first handful of poems, I sought out a place to live and write in Abiquiu, wanting to observe O’Keeffe’s later world firsthand. Finding the cabin in Gallina Canyon–50 miles from the nearest town and five miles from the nearest neighbor–was a gift.

With no internet or phone, I sealed outgoing mail in a plastic bag and bound it to this post. The owner picked up as he rode his horse past, pushing cattle up the mesa.

I hiked there often to peer through the ruins of what was once a cabin.