SACRED DESERT

sacred desert
it took me less than an hour
to pack my things
and head out of town
Las Vegas
that mindfuck in the desert
but then it took me
more than two hours
of bumper to bumper
to get past the Hoover Dam
and down onto 93
which was open and free
open and free
just like the surrounding landscape
and I hauled along
thinking, “goddamn beautiful.
it’s so goddamn beautiful out here.”
the ageless one shop towns
the faded billboards
retreating back into the earth
the scrub and broken rock
the dry air and the blue sky
the valleys that sink beneath you
and the mountains on the horizon, which
if you ever reach
will slice you open
a place as pure as death.
then my friend calls me
on my cell phone and I answer it
but don’t say, “I can’t talk
because I’m driving.”
instead I say, “not right now, man. I’m
watching the desert
pass before my eyes
and it seems to be something very sacred.”