Desert Dweller

The sun rises on the desert
to end another night.
The nocturnal quickly scurry
to escape the coming light

Shadows fall from prickly mojave
on the rugged desert floor.
A reminder of the rich history
that extends out before

a time when curious people
set out for a new frontier.
And bumped into dwellers
who’d already settled there.

The desert is a place of conflict;
a rough and barren land
Its beauty hidden from the simple;
the ones who can’t understand

that struggle gives birth to hope
and misery essential.
The trek into the unknown
to realize your potential.

This is a place of grief:
a disintegration of tears.
The mirage of a new beginning
another step away from fear.

Arid soil through countless summers
gives birth to spiky plants
that touched the first people
who were seduced by chance.

And now I take that first step
into my unknown.
A place that scares me.
A place where I’m alone.

At first I run from fear
dodging cactus and sharp rock.
To find a space of solace
far removed from the gridlock.

A deep cavern of pain
and a sprinkle of shame,
fuel my ambitious heart
with visions of change

Until I find that first summit
that offers some clarity.
I howl a load scream
and cry out for my sanity.

At once I realize
that my pain is not alone.
This place I’ve been coming to
has always known.

That destitution isn’t forever
if your willing to give grit.
Today’s sun will go down
and the pain will submit.

The desert has seen it all
and still it lives on.
Through flash floods and oppressive heat
an endless example of brawn.

To think it can’t handle
a tear from my eye,
is foolish and disrespectful
to the land that won’t die