TO SEE WHAT I WAS MISSING,
I SAW SAGE BRUSH, AND SCRUBBY TREES,
AND MANY ROCKS THAT GLISTEN.SAND AND TREES
AND LOTS OF ROCKS,
AND AN OLD MAN,
WITH HIS MANY THOUGHTS.
OUT HERE THERE WAS
NO MINERS DAUGHTER,
JUST SAGE AND CACTUS
NOT A DROP OF WATER.
NOTHING WAS MOVING
NOT EVEN A FLY,
EXCEPT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
WAY UP IN THE SKY.
LATER I SAW A LIZARD
AND HE SWIVELED HIS EYE,
FOR HE KNEW I DIDN’T BELONG
AS HE PASSED BYE.
HE DID A PUSH UP
AND THEN WITH A GRIN,
LOOKED UP AT ME
AND DID IT AGAIN.
A SNAKE PASSED BY-
HE DOES NOT BLINK,
I SIT VERY STILL
AND TRY NOT TO THINK
HIS TONGUE PROBES
THE DESERT AIR,
AND ALL I COULD DO
WAS SIT THERE AND STARE.
HE RATTLES HIS TAIL
INTENDING TO FRIGHT
FOR IF HE DIDN’T
I KNEW HE WOULD BITE.
A MUSTANG IN THE DISTANCE
WAS MAKING HIS WAY,
UP THE TRAIL OF LONESOME
AND JUST ANOTHER DAY.
A BURRO STANDS
ON YONDER PEAK,
HE SNIFFS THE AIR
FOR WATER TO SEEK.
BUT THE DESERT IS HARSH
AND DOESN’T TELL,
ITS SECRETS ARE HIDDEN,
ONLY TIME WILL TELL.
A RAVEN FLOATS
GENTLY BY,
HIS WINGS GLISTEN
IN THE MORNING SKY.
HIS RASPY VOICE LETS ME KNOW
THAT HE IS THERE,
AS HE CIRCLES ABOVE ME
I CONTINUE TO STARE.
I SAW A COYOTE BEHIND THE SAGE
TO HIM IT’S ABOUT MAKING A LIVING,
ONE THING ABOUT HIM
HE CAN’T KEEP FROM GRINNING.
THE WIND WAS GENTLY
CARRESING MY FACE,
I THINK IT WAS TRYING
TO TELL ME OF THIS PLACE.
IT WAS THEN LIKE A REVELATION,
THAT I CAME TO REALIZE,
IT WAS JUST NOT THE DESERT
IT IS IN ALL OF US, TO TRY TO SERVIVE.
ALAS, THERE IS NO SECRET TO THE DESERT
AND AS THE SUN SINKS INTO THE WEST
I AM NO DIFFERENT
THAN ALL OF THE REST.
NOW THE RAVEN SCOLDS ME AS HE COCKS HIS HEAD
AND HOPS ACROSS THE DESERT FLOOR,
HE’D LIKE ME TO BE GONE
SO HE CAN LOCK THE DOOR.
LOOK OUT THE WINDOW SOMEDAY
AS YOU TRAVEL ALONG,
YOU MIGHT SEE A MAN SITTING ON A ROCK
AND YOU LOOK BACK AND HE IS GONE
ONE TIME I WAS A PART
OF THAT DESERT SCENE,
AND I LEAVE A PART OF ME THERE,
IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.
AT LAST THE SECRET OF THE DESERT
I SEEK NO MORE,
WHAT ARE THE SECRETS
THAT YOU SEARCH FOR?
DICK SENIOR
© 2011