Member Poem

Unfinished Journey

We leave the house tumbling down

behind us I hear the glass shatter

and the rumbling of the timbers

I look back at a plume of dust

I think we are heading north,

but the compass spins freely

arrow indicates despair

the water hole is dry

or rather, we somehow missed it

argued about whether to go back

but behind us the air boils

with a disquieting sheen

Arrow indicates despair

Juniper gone, cottonwood gone

all trees and shrubs in fact

there are no cacti here

I find myself cheered

at sight of a gaping skull

the land slopes down

but it is so irregular

we get no clear view

of what lies ahead

the compass tells us lies

arrow indicates despair

We follow a wadi that looks

as if it last held water

during the Pleistocene

when this land was lush

moisture dripping and shy

creatures hurrying from waterholes

Arrow indicates despair

we are no longer on the map

we are no longer on Earth

gridlines show through

thin soil that scarcely

supports our weight

arrow indicates despair

we skirt the funnel

whose bottom we can't see

stones hasten downward

there is buzzing but no insects

arrow indicates despair

the end