Published May 15th, 2024
Socially Engaged Poetry Contest #9 – First Place
by Nicholas Allison
A harsh, desolate, unforgiving land,
beautiful in the way things with the power to destroy often are.
The nights come on suddenly, the chill embellishing the actual temperature,
while throughout the scorching days,
the sun appears to inch ever closer to the earth,
a returning Mayan deity descending from Omeyocan,
reclaiming dominion over his ancient empire.
The animals who call this place home are rugged,
low-slung, and tenacious.
Armadillos and coyotes, snakes and lizards,
bristly javelina darting amid scrub brush in small packs.
Overhead, the caracara and vultures,
ever-watchful winged predators of the heavens,
glide gracefully, lazily upon ascending thermals.
The native flora seems overly defensive, if not outright aggressive,
shrouded in wicked spikes and thorns,
ready and willing to draw blood from any intruder
foolish or careless enough to venture too near.
A patchwork of honey mesquite and desert yaupon,
shifting caliche soils spotted with prickly pear and acacia,
yielding to dusty, windswept grasslands,
stretching, rolling, unraveling
beyond the wide, muddy river,
unfolding into eternity.
Here, in this desiccated place, liquid is a luxury,
the continually broken pledge of briefly gathering rain gods,
a dream that almost seems real,
a distant mirage shimmering on the horizon,
urging weary travelers to outlast death just a while longer,
as they traverse the aborted paths
of those who stumbled and faltered,
of those who sat to rest, one final time.
And so one step follows another,
having long since passed beyond the point of safe return,
always North now, in search of salvation,
a silent prayer echoing in an anguished soul,
a small brown hand tightly clutching her own,
a fragile promise of reassurance passing parched lips,
attempting to shield him from the doubt growing in her own heart.
About the Poet
Nicholas Allison resides in Leander, Texas, United States.
Read the poet's biography on Nicholas Allison's Artist Page.
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My Mother Broke Her Leg
by Paige Francis
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