the embankment was crumbling red clay
drought had removed any moisture
and mule deer migration had
destroyed the edge
below, cracked and warped,
the lake bed sent mirages
shimmering along the horizon…
it was from this shimmering
that a figure appeared
at first easily discounted as imagination
or the heat dancing on the sandy soil
but as the edges became more defined
the figure took a solid state
as one lone pronghorn
meandered slowly across the desert
looking for any sage with green tips
or juniper with new growth
to satiate its near unquenchable
thirst –