the unforgiving bright

of a dusty stark landscape

has almost blinded me

sowaro soldiers pop up

in uneven beige minefields

like dry bones while whippowills race

amid dust, their fancy headdresses askew on

grey brown heads, as they scurry between

nesting along the edges

of this lonesome racheria and distracting their preditors

(much like we humans).

two faded bunnies crossed in front of

me and petey this morning during a

pre-dawn walk

taking care of bunny business before

the heat struck

forays into the outdoors are timed

like races

while all remaining life courses are set

depending on where the sun falls

in the sky and what the heat of the day

might bring..

who lives here and why, i wondered

as the dry exhaustion took me over

is it the guarantee of a

heat-stroked death?