The Call of the Desert

 

Ah. . . 

I can laugh,  

And my echo laughs back with me.  

I can run,  

And only the wind runs with me. 

I can leap,  

And I can land gracefully. 

I see beauty: 

A beauty I always see. 

I am alone,  

For I came to be free.  

The earth speaks, 

And I hear, for it's a part of me.  

Gallup, New Mexico

Who am I    

That God should open my eyes to see 

The deep beauty  

Of what imperfect earth can be?  

The thorns poke,  

But even they cannot stop me; 

For I laugh,  

And You, O, LORD, laugh back with me. 

 ---C. Marie Byars, 1985; New Mexico

Prickly Pear Cactus

Yucca