Desert

Travels

Here in the bright sun
With the hot wind at day
And the cold wind at night
With the sand
And the snakes,

Here the harshness speaks volumes
Speaks words we would never want to say
Speaks of our hearts and to our hearts
And here (in this wilderness)
Is the voice of God.

Let my heart be still
And let the words ring clear
Whether a whisper or a shout
From a friend
or an enemy
Let me listen in this place
and let what is spoken
sit in my bones
and may my mind and heart understand
What my soul has already learned.

We have all been many places
even if we never leave home
and what we look for
this is not inside of ourselves.

Passing Through

New life
Sought like water
here in the desert
where we feel we are drowning
and choking on sand
New life
like a light
shining in darkness
sometimes seems so far away.

in the early morning light
the sun is rising in the east
the horse’s carcass rots away
skin flapping in the heated wind.

The desert is a harsh place,
a cruel place, a place for stone and sand
To be soft, alive, and wet
is to be a stranger,
and we only journey through here.

Out There

Walking through the hills I found

That deserts are quite dry

The sagebrush tells a stilling tale

And it’s you who must ask why.

 

Leaving off the finer things

To bask in natures iron fist

The wind blows dust across the hills

And comfort is what’s truly missed.

 

I embarked with thoughts on fire

And had them quenched with biting sand

The mother’s blowing chill desire

Is to see me in the land.

 

Death seems but a step away

And all the wishing is quite sad

But wind is blowing sand around

And happiness cannot be had.

 

So looking for the better thing

I walked into the waiting hills

And climbed upon the crumbling rocks

Until my soul had had its fill.