the shadow of the mountain grows long
and the image of a wave transfixed
holds my mind’s eye enthralled

the sweeping majesty of where nothing is
reminds me where I can find the truth
is not in the lights and sounds and tall
but in the small and quiet and hard to see

wilderness, the last frontier of silence
because even in space the song of the stars
keeps atoms company, but here, each
living creature must live in silence

live with the fear of hearing themselves
naked, without the clothing of others
without the mask of screaming cities
without the refuge of music and conversation

the days are hot and the nights take their revenge
but all is calm here, not even the rain
dares disturb the silence and grandeur
of the desert.