January 17, 2014

The Dead Mountains

Manchester Peak of The Dead Mountains
 
 Southern End of The Dead Mountains
 
Every night I watch in silence
as the sun turns
The Dead Mountains black
I think about the living
and I remember the dead

Sometimes I dream
of the Corona De Cristo trees
heavenly hued with purple flowers
in the heat of June

Sometimes I dream of elder desert tortoises
hole up near fragrant creosote brush
on the Colorado River
 

The Hualapai Mountain Range Kingman Arizona
 
 
Vista of Hualapai Mountain Range Kingman Arizona 

Oatman Arizona Route 66
 
 
Sometimes I dream about
birds of prey who rule
endless blue skies
as far as the eye can see
 
Oatman Arizona Route 66
A place to spread ashes of loved ones
 
 
Sometimes I dream
the dead are still living
and roaming this vast
seemingly barren desert with me
 
 
Maternal Uncle and Father 1968
 
 
me and baby brother in 2007
Lowlands of River Valley
Subsection of Sonoran Desert
 
Your birthday is near Father
you've been dead longer than you were alive
time flew from your hands
you could never gather enough of it
to keep life in your favor
 
I'll be thinking about you
after the sun sets
behind the Dead Mountains
and the stars begin to hover
high over head
 
I'll be thinking of the times
we crossed this desert
to the West Coast
 
or towards
the Indian Territory
of Oklahoma
 
coming
 *
going
 
It never mattered
as long as I
were with you
 
I miss you
I suspect
I always will