Valley of Fire

Silver etchings of cumulus clouds
tower above Mesozoic sandstone

vermillion waves wash
across an ancient sea,
spherical ripples blown
by Mojave winds against
sun-baked cliffs where
wisdom of the Ancient Ones
carved through desert varnish
tells the story of hunters,
the big horn and antelope

life sacrified
for collective survival.

Shamans chant around
sacred hoop sculpted
from gathered stones
cleansed by sage,
warmed by juniper,
a spiral sun carved
into the petroglyph tableau
shines down on cholla,
prickly pear and maize

life sustained
for the Anasazi.


~text & photo by leh

Grandfather's Rocker

The creak of Grandfather’s rocker

on our wooden porch planks.

 

They have returned—the ghosts

of black-lunged miners

from a glossed-over wrinkle in time

when life was worn hard
as a vein of lead, its spirit subdued
under steel-toed boots
from The Company Store,
when Earth weighed heavily
on their chests, even before
the carbon tunnel cave-in,
its crushing vacuum compressing,
strangling, abducting their lives
breath by wheezing breath.

Until that day in 1940
when the whistle screamed,
“Don’t take a chance,
it may be your last.”


leh

Haiku XIII

Great Blue stands at shore
waiting for aquatic prey
stoic persistence

leh

Haiku XII

spring forth golden fields
California poppies bloom
bees drink sweet nectar

leh

Haiku XI

azure falls cascade
over gilded crimson koi
lilies reflected


text & photo by leh

Haiku X

half moon aqua sea
ice plant crawling over cliff
coast range silhouette



text & photo by leh

Late Rain

Red and Yellow flash
Swirl, blinds
Bleeds into my senses.
 
A voice on the phone
Said this is the spot
Just past the bend
In the road.
The damp road.
The slippery road.
 
Where’s my son?
My baby boy…
Two weeks from sixteen.

 

Red, now, only Red
(Swirls, blinds
Bleeds into my memory)
On the road.
The damp road.
The skid-marked road.


text & photo by leh

Red Legs and Leather

Beautiful bad girl
plugged-in
to fringe

fatal attraction
amplified
in the red zone

carpé noctem
cards dealt
by a wicked messenger

institutionalized
inexcusably
transformed

 

text & photo by leh