Red Rock Rise

 
tan and brick fire red
    sheer walls rise from
        dry sand wash

angled under strain of the weight
    of sediment press'd creas'd
        over animal bone

north-south strike
    anticlinal dip
        the oldest geology text

clouds gather impermanent in the folded gorge
    flash flood knives carve
        the next stratum

i am free    i am
    free to explore the channels
        flood-prone dangerous

at this time of year
    head high sediment could bury me
        in a wall of red rock mud

and i too become the latest news
    seal'd in red layer'd fold
        beneath the sand
 

               - bruce g marcot

----------------

Notes:  I love this country!  The Canyonlands area of the desert southwest U.S. is amazing.  I have camped and traveled its backcountry in car and motorcycle and on foot.  Nearly got swept away by a flash flood one evening.

Above photo © Bruce G. Marcot; taken on the "Wall Street" trail of Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.

- bgm

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