Deep, Blue Silence

By William Rand

Oh, wondrous depth

slowing my very breath

as I gazed in awe

at the wonder I saw.

Deep

Blue

Silence,

Hollowed are you,

Hallowed are you.

Walls colored in rust

shaded and shaped

by wild swirling dust

Towering stories

of time long forgotten

sculpted by waters’ influence,

deepened by rivers’ confluence

Stilled and stirred

Holding and heard.

Hollowed by dried rain.

Hallowed be thy flame.

In the heat of noon hour,

sky shades shadows

of deepest

Bluest

silence

Wondrous depth,

Hollowed are you

Hallowed are you.

Quiet as the pulse of being, vast as the unconscious mind.

The mystical canyons of Canyonlands National Park slowed my very breath the first moment my eyes were graced with their unbelievable majesty. These canyons are carved out by the mighty confluence of the Colorado River and the Green River. When the sun is high in the sky, the canyon walls are cast in the deep blue shades of water.