Sedona
a curved lizard sleeps quietly on a rock
orients itself to the influence of heat
a slow heart,
gentle earth pulse
hiss, click, rattle,
things unseen scurry about,
seeking grub and insect,
a rare bead of moisture
the cak cak
of a Cooper's hawk
echoes from a distant canyon
makes for a kind of silence
crucifixion thorn bushes
adorn dry slopes and mesas
brittle leaves and cypress bark
blow into crook and crevice
we climb the hills of Sedona
to shed the dying self
to seek nourishment for our souls
we walk the deserts of prophets
the red earth we come from
to glimpse traces of God