Desert Dweller

-thoughts on life, death and gardening.

Desert Dreamers


Hidden behind desert sandstone
coiled secrets of serpent wisdom
advise caution.

Weary wanderers become wary
at sounds of hiss and rattle,
cautiously navigating
the dusty invisible path that leads to madness—
or the well of enlightenment.

Unaware that the path of madness
easily misleads toward
trails of temptation and torment.

Most creatures in the dry lands
bite or sting, most plants poke and grab.

Unprepared outsiders
moan and groan
suffering from blisters,
sunburn and suicide itch.
Unrelenting thirst
and hunger for answers unsatisfied.

Unaware that
they are asking the unanswerable
and seeking the unknowable
in a land that offers only
challenges, pain and death.

© 2025 Bruno Talerico
Stafford challenge 139/365.

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