I love to walk in the desert alone.
People say I’m insane,
but solitary hikes are no riskier
than most things in life.
I walk very far, until my old legs say “enough”
I find shade under a gnarled mesquite
and sit quietly still.
When given my full attention,
Mother Earth reciprocates
with wisdom and nourishment.
Hiking alone
provokes existential awareness,
wakens intrinsic understandings.
Whether in in life or in nature,
we will soon be leaving,
and there is magic in the desert.
© 2025 Bruno Talerico
Stafford challenge day 83/365.
Henry David Thoreau wrote:
The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.
Desert Dweller 