Blue, green, sun-bleached gold;
shades of my memory stained
with streaks of copper and rust.
Breathless cicada-shrill afternoons
fade into sage-scented summer nights.
I cover myself with a blanket of stars,
Sleeping rough beneath acacia and ironwood.
The desert wakes at dusk;
Soft breezes blow as a brief caress,
Fading and returning unexpectedly
Lingering like a love long past.
Sere grasses rustle, timid creatures search
fiercely for survival.
Night birds twist against the sky;
Dancing shadows in the dark light
that hangs between earth and evening.
Leather-winged bats dart faster than the eye
can follow and an owl calls ...
just there.
Close your eyes. Breathe
mesquite smoke from a smoldering fire.
The rising heat shivers through leaves overhead.
Stillness settles with the rise of the moon
and silver washes the land;
whispering silent in the night.