luxfugio

It's Dawn, and I Am Drowning In It

You stun me,
still.
The desert is the perfect home for you-
you flourish where all other life
would burn;
there is no well to drink from
and the earth is a mass of scars.
But somehow you and the cactus came
to an agreement,
you respect their lack of roots
and understand.
I think of your proud frame,
stretching to the screaming sun,
your taut skin
drinking from the driest air
and your eyes unflinching in this dawn,
as indelibly scorched across my memory
as the sight of red rock rising out of nowhere.
I,
on the other hand,
have drowned in this abundance of life
to which I have run,
in the depths of these waters
there are too many frightening shapes,
brushing my legs
before their anticipated attacks.
In this flood I've lost my way,
muddy water washed away the tracks
which could have led me back to you.