Rise to the top
It’s that the many
Are beaten down
An oppressive weight
Waiting to fall
My mood becomes dark as the sky
Until I realize the low grey cover
Provides an atmospheric parasol
A gift to soften harsh desert sun
Diminish the heat of afternoon
An invitation to step out of the car
I breathe deeply in sage-scented air
While my mood becomes effervescent
As sage drifting in the desert breeze
A harbinger
Of things to come
Of times extant
Of days which always were
And may always be
Until we find our way
To a better way
Create a better world
Constrained
And confined
Horizon suggests
Warmth and possibility
Shadowed land
Scattered gentle highlights
Promising illumination
Hope prevails
The rock reaches
Resisting burden
Unflagging
Emergent
While I imagine pyramids
And Pharaohs
Slaves and Gods
In a dreamtime
Of human greatness
And cruelty