I dream of the desert. . .

the quiet inside. the slick rock, bed rock, red rock beneath us. beneath these feet. beneath these beating hearts. beneath the sky that's still there. still. and the clouds that roll over. over and over. and sometimes into rain. a rain you can smell coming before you can see it. a rain you can taste. and suddenly the whole valley smells of sage and wet sand and there is a singing that birds do right then, that insects do, that even rocks, so slow to singing, join in. cool to heat and heat to cool. like sun to stars and back again. and cotton woods. and obsidian. junipers and scree. slot canyons that make you suck in your belly and see the sky like a ribbon of blue above and the earth is a river of sand. i dream of the desert. and the desert moon.