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.