Unsanctified Worship



Sometimes -
she looks cold, and bitter
Wearing-
the leftover robe of Winter

Like spit on the ground
Her messed up land
Makes cows frown
In December
She never smiles
Mile after mile -

Sandstone cries to Moon
To ease her pain come afternoon
Sun hears her prayers, and proclaims-
Sandstone will burn again

Sage and Cactus create abstract Maze
Coyotes shadow dance - at end of day
Stone they romance through the haze
On canyon walls time scrawls all names

Laughing howls -cut in, and out
Wind hears their calls carried far out -
Summoning pain - She's amused !
Garishly grinning-
In light of day

Turning dust devils loose
Upon them all-
Irreverent they become
Desert Squalls !

Chasing cattle in riotous fashion
Just to hear horns clang, and bones rattle
Hooves hit her unsanctified land
Unceremoniously grand !

She smiles while life bleeds
Beings though never see -
Howls, dust and water flee

Disappearing -
Often in vaporous ending
Temporary you see-

She will remain -

                                  eternally...
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Submitted by IrishRose on January 20, 2016

Modified on March 14, 2023

50 sec read
53

Quick analysis:

Scheme XABA XCXAXX DDEX FGFE HHXBG XXXX XXCC XII BBI X
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 984
Words 167
Stanzas 10
Stanza Lengths 4, 6, 4, 4, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 1

Gwendolyn McGrath

I am a Writer, Artist and Muscian. I'm a graduate of UC East Bay, Hayward Ca. MFA and UC BERKELEY MFA Creative Writing. more…

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