Desert

Frontier
Endless
Eons
the desert,
beautiful, ethereal
though dangerous.
Starkly 
striking
with its sentinel sierras
and dull dun dust.
Here, ancient Apache
phantoms
and gunslinger's ghosts
mingle midst ramshackle shanties
in colonias of startling squalor.
This is Land's End
(not the clothing company)
just
sun
scorching summer skin
and in winter a cold
that permeates bone...
And small creatures 
skitter about
'mongst brambles and burs
like beetles
and stone-colored 
lizards.
So seemingly barren,
God-forsaken
fit for but bandits
and thorns
this is a harsh land,
not for the weak
but I understand its
bounty,
its mystical allure
I know the dazzling 
blooms
starry skies
and coyote's plaintive wail
and how prophets
have sought solace here,
a quiet contemplation
refuge,
rest.
Yes, the desert gives
to those who'll receive.