8/20/2004

Where
we are going
requires
leaving behind
a patch of green
in the desert
the mountains
accessible
using
an easy trail
past trees that lay
as they were
when they fell
three hundred and fifty
years ago
already
four thousand years old
walking in thunder
no light from above
then
settling into cloth saddles
astride two-humped camels
that carry us
to the foot of
the flaming cliffs
we arrive in time
for a toast
and jamboree
of archery
wrestling
and
three hundred children
on horseback
racing one another
into the distance
and back again
glad
to be alive.