The Desert

The Desert

Are we strangers to this place or friends to call our home

Kinetic energy of our lives, swelter on cloudless days, shiver on starry nights

Winds howl, as residents in syncopated rhythms, bid us welcome, we're not alone

Quiet of darkness can drive one insane or look in wonderment at northern lights

Azure skies clear up in show for us, as we journey, with friends in company

Sands underfoot massage as spas,  mountainous dunes dance tall in the winds 

Sandstorms pass our way, remind us, life is not all play

We hold our breath, cover our nose, and hope what's around here don't get in our clothes

Sense of direction, purpose can be lost, but for the trail, they lurk everywhere

Ever shifting sands, remind us, change is life's constant

Mirages seen excitedly, fail unperfected, here nothing can be trusted

Rock formations, graced by imposing canyons, well up every ideation

The illusion of time stands still, dispelled, as bodies like ours slowly erode

A cacti, prickly pear, towering saguaro dare us to touch

Yet, for all the dried up beds, cracked, parched earth, an oasis may gladly appear

As if from nowhere, hopeful travelers afforded a place to drink, to rest, to think

Colored outcroppings hang, as if painted by a master artist

Bleached bones, weathered stumps, testified to lives once lived, but for unbelief

Creatures survived, eeked out a living for what this place can give

Mountains as noble creatures even dare to touch the sky

You look at us, even right through, as with camels' eyes

Whose dainty eyelashes distract irritants so we can see

Greater still we look for a destination, having allowed to endure

A weary band of travelers in their sojourn for so much more