LAS CRUCES
(Hali Hammer)

The lightning flashed through exploding clouds
     & made fireworks of the sky
Night lights shined down in Las Cruces, Christmas tinsel we passed by
It was quite a sight, for without headlights,
     though the moon was just half full
I could see the ground & the stars that lounged round the sky
     like scattered jewels

We went all around Picacho Peak and past Apache Dam
It was me, Noel, Bryan, Pat & Frank and our guide was Drivin’ Tim
He’d been playing with the desert ever since he’d been alive
And I watched him spin a tapestry through the sand in 4-wheel drive

I saw the desert from on high, then through the canyons wide
And I sat between the crevassed rocks while bats ran through the sky
And I think I know how the bottom looked the time the Red Sea parted
And I felt so fine ‘neath the half-moon sky, like my life had just restarted

We rode on rocks like I’d never known that were molded from the land
And we saw a tiny trickling stream that we joked was the Rio Grande
And we rambled down the walkway at the Boxer Canyon Dam
And I know if I stayed for a while, I’d find who and what I am

I came to visit friends and saw the mountains on all sides
Plants so hardy in their sparsity, they bloom and they survive
And the rocks of many colors seem to live and will never die
And the setting of the sun in orange, pink, and purple sky

And I know I’ll come back soon & find
     the pleasures of heart, soul & mind
And it’s time I had a chance to try some of nature’s ways…
     of getting high