I Close My Eyes

by Irene Daniel

I close my eyes
and I am in the desert,
la tierra of my youth.

I smell the earth
and feel the breeze,
and I am hot, hot, hot.

I see the succulents shrivel
as lizards and gophers
scamper about.

Morning shade gives way
to brilliant sunshine
and the heat
of nature's oven.

No escape, except inside
with air conditioning.
Neither shade nor swamper
can tame the demon heat.

And then I see
the earth turn orange
with the color of the sunset,
sky and earth are one
and show off many colors.

Blue, purple, peach,
red, orange, fuchsia;
blend into a miracle
of a dusty dusk

that transforms to
a moonless night
when stars overcome
the dark spaces,
and sometimes fall
from the sky.

And then the desert
comes alive
with predators nocturnal;
the mountain lion,
the spider,
the bat,
hungry and awake
as prey animals hide.

And then the morning
comes again
another glorious miracle
of light and clouds and earth.

Sweet cool breezes
become heated
waves of air,
that blows the dust
of rusted dreams
waking me from my slumber.


                                                                                         Irene Daniel   Copyright 2014   All rights reserved