Cactus In Chiaroscuro

Winter flower in mid-afternoon light and shade...

Deadwood

Aged and dry refashioned with new mission...

Taproot went far down and deep
no more surface water to seep,
aquifer ran dry far underground,
tree now windbreaker earthbound...

Bell Rock

Permian Supai Formation portal into the earth...

Seventeen Miles Out

State route where railway unloads...

Seventeen miles out state route where railroad unloads
then down dusty desert floor sagebrush road
a well-intentioned displaced rerouted life is burrowed.

A few hundred yards away from Depression water tank
sits tilted trailer where awhile ago Ennis sank
near watering hole by mountain from which cattle once drank.

The strait jacketed life of his era never did fit
many times years ago tried his damndest to make a run for it
heartbrokenly his running buddy didn't have guts or wit.

Without regard of today's dustbowl condition he does thrive
spiritedly independent and every day anew revives
that hotspot within that has kept him doggedly alive.

Lonesome Road

Go thirty miles past railroad crossing to water tank...

Ramada Askew

Leaning pole and wires on tilted rugged landscape...

Leather

Pastoral pastures near Arizona Canal...

Adventuring Sorrow Road

Blue buckled and weary expedition...

Adventuring sorrow road
blue buckled and weary,
expedition to mountains
earthly, ghostly, bleary.

Harrowing sadness 'til furrowed
rugged path paved sagely,
wagoneering mesas and canyons
dodgly, deftly, gamely.

Traversing time eases load
memories rich in bronzy,
making the way not so blacken
dusky, loamy, calmly.

Winter Sunlight

Mesquite basking on high desert plain...

Block Watch

Frame of reference outside the wall...