The air is so hot it parches the throat

And lays on the tongue like baking powder

A sidewinder dances across the road

In mirage pools of shifting asphalt

The roadrunner is an ugly bird

He looks nothing like the nemesis of Wile E. Coyote

His cartoon caricature is flattering

But at forty miles per hour, his speed is adequate

It is a deadly game; dancing with vipers in the sun

The roadrunner makes it look like child’s play

Imagining bare feet on the sweltering pavement

One can understand the choreography

 Beauty and death burn together side by side

Endless lands stretch forth in shimmering seas

Sweat trickles down the neck in rivulets

As fiery lungs scream with every breath

Cholla in the arroyo burst like purple pansies;

Pink prickly spines like a porcupine

Beneath the summer stones are scorpions

And the orange and black Gila resting

Mighty Saguaro arms rise to the sky

From Doric green-sleeved columns

Crimson fruit decorate the branches

With the perfume of lily-white flowers

The arid dunes roll empty and ancient

Where nomad travelers are eager to leave

But brave and dazzling sand inhabitants

Burst in flames of death and beauty