Arroyo

by William Rand

I see you

Dust, baked by the sun

Carved out and left there to dry

Lain down to die

You think you’re done for

You sing of time now forgotten

when things just flowed your way

Those were the good old days

Those days are gone.

There were days when you were fed

by rain falling down, bathing the ground

water, come down

Those were the good old days

Those days are gone.

Then one day

sun grew closer

Scorching the once fertile ground

Your rushing slowed down

When sunlight burned!

withering, writhing

shriveling, dying

you saw the fall of your life

gone with the cool breeze

so too the source of your rushing

You saw the fall

starved out in drought

left in the brutal sun!

Left to dry

Lain to die

Lama sabachthani!

You cracked

You lay down

from dust you came

to dust you returned

Apathy atrophied thy broken heart.

The wind tells of another story

restless waiting

patient bathing

sun rays gazing upon you

You never died

You never left

You never moved

You stayed.         the.            same.         shape.

You may think you died

but the wind

tells another story

Arroyo

Arroyo (n.) is a dry riverbed found in desert regions. This Arroyo is found in Arches National Park. From the moment that I stepped on the sandy path, I felt the memory of ancient water swirl around my feet. I felt the waiting presence whisper in the gentle wind, while the dust lay barren on the ground. What can the Arroyos of this world teach us about our own lives and dry places?