Death Valley
Images from a trip in March 2022... with a poem
Rain beyond Zabriskie
Lullaby
Death Valley National Park
by
Joan Kantor
They come
in hordes
in hordes
awed
by my angles
edges
salt flats
dunes
by my angles
edges
salt flats
dunes
high canyon walls
Badwater Pilgrims
Badwater Cliffs
They look beyond
the grey
to see the contrast
of my bright orange and aqua cliffs
and dark jagged peaks
against blue sky
and rolling billows of white
the grey
to see the contrast
of my bright orange and aqua cliffs
and dark jagged peaks
against blue sky
and rolling billows of white
Badwater #1
Badwater #2
They don’t see
that like an oversized child
I only appear
to be old
that like an oversized child
I only appear
to be old
Artists Drive
Artists Palette
and have millions of years
before me
when those edges
and peaks
will wear down
before me
when those edges
and peaks
will wear down
Manly Beacon from Zabriskie Point
Manly Beacon and Red Cathedral (from Zabriskie Point)
The crust
of earth
its moving plates
will rattle
crack
and fold my bones
of earth
its moving plates
will rattle
crack
and fold my bones
Rare greenery south of Furnace Creek
Arid hot air
will blast me
with sand
will blast me
with sand
Flash floods
dragging tons of debris
will scrape
my walls
and floor
dragging tons of debris
will scrape
my walls
and floor
Into Golden Canyon
But every day
in the late afternoon
when the sun shifts
before sunset
in the late afternoon
when the sun shifts
before sunset
Red Cathedral and Manly Beacon from Golden Canyon
it offers me blankets
of dark purple shadow
whose softness unfolds
into crevices
and river carved bowls
of dark purple shadow
whose softness unfolds
into crevices
and river carved bowls
Leaving Golden Canyon
as snugly
I welcome
its soft glow
of pink
and gold
I welcome
its soft glow
of pink
and gold
Looking south from mouth of Golden Canyon
till cradled
in the deepest of blues
in the deepest of blues
safe
beneath
the nightlight of moon
beneath
the nightlight of moon
I drift
into sleep
to the silent rhythmic tune
of blinking stars
into sleep
to the silent rhythmic tune
of blinking stars
Path into Zabriskie
Thanks for viewing
© 2022 Christopher Bomba
