"Life is the dancer and you are the dance."
Eckhart Tolle

Friday, March 18, 2011

"South of the Border" big tent poetry #45-stuck,stranded or otherwise trapped

On the desert floor air is frigid at night
Deflated memories bound in a cyclone
I look for a familiar star to guide me in my twilight
No cars pass on this purple-tinted highway in the dark

Can you hear the coyotes howling in the middle of the night?

On the desert floor the sun is blistering in the daytime
Scorpions and vultures searching for prey
Cacti as tall as buildings lay veins in the earth
Spines emerging from areoles, too close you bleed
Dust rises, settles in my hair and eyes in the sun
As I try to protect myself there's no shade
Parched mouth, water’s gone, dry skin, I’m tired
Hoping for a passerby
to rescue me from
a liquorice-coloured route
that disappears ahead

46 comments:

  1. A thoroughly chilling scenario. I do hope it's fiction!

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  2. That's quite a place to be stuck in. Great imagery.

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  3. Goodness, I do hope this way a product of your imaginings. These words were definitely tangible!

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  4. What a gruesome place to be stuck in that you have described so well, Pamela. I especially like deflated memories bound in a cyclone.

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  5. You described it so well. It fels real and so scary...

    lost in a maze

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  6. And even in such moments, there is still beauty.

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  7. Wow. Fantastic. I need some water.

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  8. Viv, it is fiction, but I have an innate fear of
    being stranded on the desert highways here in Mexico. Could have something to do with the fact, that we had an accident in the mountains almost 10 years ago.

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  9. great write...and a frightening scenario, Vb

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  10. Yes, Anthony, it would a nightmarish place for me, though it has its beauty, it can be quite foreboding.

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  11. Yes, my imagination completely, but a real fear, nonetheless.

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  12. Actually, Laurie, the desert is quite beautiful, but, I wouldn't want to be stranded myself there.

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  13. I have often thought about it, Gautami.

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  14. If it ever does happen Joseph, I don't want to be alone. The desert is quite beautiful at night.

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  15. mmm...being lost int he dessert is not a fun place to be...barren, lacking food or even more important water...dehydration will get you well before the animals...

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  16. Brian, absolutely and I have no intentions of it happening to me:)

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  17. trapped in the open air! that was frightening. my heart thumped. well done.

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  18. Mine would, too, if it really did happen, nan:)

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  19. Ugh that scary poem! You show the fear of being stranded in that place.

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  20. This sounds scary. I did not know that the dessert air at night is cold. I love the vivid pictures you paint with your words. "cactus as tall as buildings lay veins in the earth". Just amazing!

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  21. Jeez, didn't mean to scare ya, Cathy;)

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  22. http://judyidliketosay.blogspot.com/2011/03/searched.html

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  23. Beautifully put. And I'm glad it's fiction.

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  24. It's fiction, Judy, the desert is cold at night and hot during the day. Pretty much the same as this volcanic area I live in. Definitely a different climate me for me.

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  25. Yeah, Barb after that accident in the mountains
    almost 10 years ago, you won't find me driving in the desert alone at night:)

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  26. licorice colored route - wow - fine imagery, to be sure. The fear is palpable.

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  27. I'm here in the desert a bit north of you and you describe it to a tee. Can't say I feel isolated (with all the development) or stuck, but I do remember it when it was completely bare. You pain a clear picture of being stranded in the desert.

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  28. BTW, I'm in love with your canine kids. Can they come visit?

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  29. I think it's all been said already (!) but I found the imagery very powerful as well as the rising panic/despair. A hostile place.

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  30. As a desert dweller, I appreciated every image and reference. Really great write!

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  31. Wowza. I am in with the "I am scared" crowd. Chilling, indeed.

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  32. joseph said it very well: beauty in the danger

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  33. Yes, I'm thirsty now too! I like the way you described from head to toe! I feel dust in my hair and scorpions at my feet..

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  34. Susan, that is the way they look in the sun.
    Thanks.

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  35. Victoria, there are so many desolate areas here in Mexico. They are beautiful and a bit foreboding. As for the canines, when exactly would you like them to visit:)

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  36. Now, I am in a volcanic area, which is much greener and surrounded by more water, lakes and natural springs.

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  37. Thanks for the visit, earlybird:)

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  38. Yes, Julie, I don't want to stranded there by myself.

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