Poet Of The Week: DesertShaman
I was drawn to this heartfelt tribute to one of our favorite members by its powerful and vivid imagery. I also love the way that the quick movement of the lines emphasizes the fact that this is a poem about traveling. Congratulations to desertshaman for a job well done!
Departure (For Windnsea)
Goodbye again
my comrade my partner my friend
The falling leaves mark your travels
Fly south to wind and sea
through changing hue of mindscape
and dark mountain passes
The wide open basin where autumn leaves
blow across the expanse of destiny
Circular faces of clouds are chiseled
from ancient skies
You trek the newborn silt
of the old western floors
past statues in the desert
into fertile valleys warm and clean
Go with elation
Go serendipitously into that world
Take a handful of eternity
as the moments the hours the years
slip through our fingers
And take this trifle of me along
to shelter when the wind howls
The sun blazes today
leaping over a ballet of clouds
barely warming the brittle bones of the land
soon to fall in an explosion of
yellow pink azure and purple
where I will hear the last echoes of laughter
Then it will be gone
Followed by a grey silent winter-
desertshaman
Departure (For Windnsea)
Goodbye again
my comrade my partner my friend
The falling leaves mark your travels
Fly south to wind and sea
through changing hue of mindscape
and dark mountain passes
The wide open basin where autumn leaves
blow across the expanse of destiny
Circular faces of clouds are chiseled
from ancient skies
You trek the newborn silt
of the old western floors
past statues in the desert
into fertile valleys warm and clean
Go with elation
Go serendipitously into that world
Take a handful of eternity
as the moments the hours the years
slip through our fingers
And take this trifle of me along
to shelter when the wind howls
The sun blazes today
leaping over a ballet of clouds
barely warming the brittle bones of the land
soon to fall in an explosion of
yellow pink azure and purple
where I will hear the last echoes of laughter
Then it will be gone
Followed by a grey silent winter-
desertshaman
