harsh, stinging things guard my wilderness, dead-
seeming things grasp and tear at the skin.
above, keen acidic blue scorches eyes.
breathe: this air desiccates mucous membranes

the scent: dust and sage, dry as the earth, red
clay.  the scent: smoke and ash in fire season.
small and scaly beasts run and breathe, then die
now melting from bodies to bones in days

from earth, heat rises, shock-bright in twisted
sinusoidal waves curving toward heaven.
when strange rains finally fall,        all sigh
the hard earth chokes on gushing floods of rain.

the barren, arid loveliness of home
beckons me from the frozen waste i roam


-jess


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