Desert's Child

Desert’s Child
Mother, mother, hold me
hold me in your sandstone arms
your cracked russet skin reflects the sun’s heat
and warms me

Mother, mother, sing to me
sing in your whistling winds
crickets play their violins
coyotes will sing the harmony

Mother, mother, play with me
run with the dust devils spinning madly
across the flat topped mesas
spin the tumbleweed like tops

Mother, mother, dance with me
dance in the bonfires, keeping the chill off our backs
swirl in the sparks and smoke
twisting to the velvet sky

Mother, mother, teach me
teach me with the fanged rattlesnake
warn me with their rattling tails
show me where not to walk

Mother, mother, guide me
guide with your countless stars
lead me with your twisted towers
as I follow your eye through the sky
Mother, mother, bless me
bless me with your life-giving rain
spontaneous cloudbursts that soak the earth
and paint the mesa in wildflowers

Mother, mother, love me
love me as I love you
love me in waterfalls icy embraces
and the kiss on wind on sunburned skin

Mother, mother, I have to go
they tell me it’s time to leave
I bury my heart in your warmest soil
Mother, I will miss you.

Mother! Mother! Help me!
I’m somewhere very strange
I cannot see the earth here
I cannot see the stars

Mother, mother, tell me
why I’m drowning in the air
there’s so much water here
they keep it in the sky

Mother, mother, how?
How do I survive?
In this wet and temperate world
there is no place for the Desert’s Child.