Going home is a rubber band snap
Knee-deep in a mind swamp
And the only way to avoid the snakes is to befriend them.


White picket fences spell adopted ideals
And horses are reminders that you’re not going anywhere anytime soon

The elk mounted above an unused fireplace says
I have killed what the desert could not


This town is like quicksand,
Consuming you slowly under a promise of rapid escape


The desert seems unkind until you realize that mercy
Is not pumping blood into anything to which you don’t give a shot at survival
Even if that means thorns and a bad reputation


Some creatures are strung out and inseparable like prayer beads around the wrinkled neck of the wasteland
Others have been deemed worthy of solitude
I do not know which category I fall into
If I did, perhaps I would not need a blacksmith and an armory in my morning shower


Having access to water in a place like this makes me feel like a snake charmer
Here in the valley, time is ground down into a fine powder
As if it is trying to become the thing that marks its passing
If we could bottle time, I think the universe would have enough of a sense of humor
To make the bottle an hourglass


Climbing tall things makes you powerful
Here, they blame it on the Vortexes
The local translation of guide-book enticement is gruff and solid and spat out like the chewing tobacco it is shot through
This valley’ll either **** ya in’r spit ya out, but one thing’s fer certain, it won’t do it gentle


When the rain comes in its flooding frustration
I would like to tell it that the ground does not accept what it is not accustomed to
I would like to tell myself the same thing
And would, if I could be swept away as easily


The roads are strong
Still they crumble away at the edges to blend in with the dirt
So do the people
People you know
become people you knew
When your conversations grow punctuation marks


Whoever made this desert knew that some people like leftovers
And mystery meatloaf Mondays
They knew how to sell minimalism in a junkyard
Extending ten fingers beyond old motels and rocking chair cigars
To nudge the shoulder of the Lord with a whisper
Hold me like Shiva and sweet release


I will be the one spat out by this desert
I will arrive spinning like a waterslide cannonball
Into two-sided evolutionary discussions and
Yes, please, make that latte soy
No pamphlets at my doorstep
And a population who is okay with naked mountains and empty skies
Like I am


Maybe that means I’m irrational,
Condemned to questions without answers
But **** it, being lost is preferable
To being found by everyone but yourself

Gate 24,
Flight to New Orleans,
The people crowd it,
The planes boarding,
I watch you walk away.
You're wearing those dark jeans,
The same ones you wore when I met you,
I wonder if you even realize it,
You're still walking.

The suitcases roll across the ground,
You're carrying your red back pack,
The one we carried that late night we were together,
I want you to grasp it,
Just like I want to,
But honestly, I just want you to hold.

Stopping at the ramp,
You sent a text that said,
"I can't look at you,
you know,
I won't be able to go."
Then you were gone,
You kept walking.

I want you to greet me,
With open arms,
I want a place to call home,
I know this pain is temporary,
Some day I'll find rest,
I was thrown out into adulthood,
Now I can't get back,
Little girls become women,
The moment men can't be fathers,
I got lost in darkness,
I fell to the ground,
But only to feel where to stand,
I'm a woman now,
I stand on steady legs,
In stilettos high as the sky,
I don't stumble anymore,
I'm planted to the ground,
Doing what daddy never could..