Eyes dance across the remote horizon

an azure sky rests on imposing sinuous rocks.

Once an inland sea, now a sedimentary marmalade

of cinnamon, honey, currant, caramel.

Arroyos, rock castle hollows, ripples of sand

garden host for the ornate, proud, prickly, smooth.

Sight of an intricate flower, if you’re lucky

solitary, bright and resilient in its own way.

Slickrock patios welcome you into its abode

surging gusts carry a dust bowl, the smell of sage.

Expansive beauty far as the eye can see

dishing out cryptobiotic soil, amphitheaters of varnish hues.

Stepping inside, the past scatter its dry silt floor

petrified wood, sea shells, dinosaur fossil prints, a rusty can.

Glimpse of a darting cottontail, resident lizards, life camouflaged

leaving you deep in thought, but not alone.

Washing off the daily grit, an evening banquet arrives

the savory sunset, a coyote’s howl, endless stars, always Orion.

Tiger