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The Desert
I
Hush...
The desert!
The shuffle of the sand
Beneath my moccasins . . .
My shadow going with me,
And the shadow of the buzzard
Going asI go...
u
A tawny panther,
The desert crouches
In the low sunlight,
Washed fringes of near hills
Its great padded paws.
Il
Color goes with the sun,
Leaving the mountains black,
Silver-capped in snow,
Lower hills velvet-tipped . . .
Soft words on lips of steel.
Upon its back . . .
On moccasin feet
Wind steals from the mountains . . .
Shoulders hunched,
The cold mountains
Stalk out over the night.
Iv
Something left just now,
Dragging into the night
Its pain;
Yet pain hangs here in the room
Choking the silence.
Outside dark wings
Press down the night.
The canyon
Calling . ..
Plunged down among hills,
The river
Running .. .
The cry of the river
Sears the night.
v
Snow fingering far hills,
Capturing lost sunlight
In nets of gold . . .
Blue wind filters down
Through the hills,
Biting the sand.
Blue hands of the desert
Reach up.
Stars drip into the night.
vi
Dusk in the desert-
Shadowless.
Night sombre, silent,
Slowly coming over hills
Closer, closer . . .
Pressing dire against you.
Night
Heavy with weight of stars.
Dawn
Staggering with ashen face
Out of the hills.