Land of the Zia Sun

Land of hot Southwestern sun –
Place of deserts and hot peppery Mexican feasts
Land of arid beauty and seasonal monsoon rains
Bringing unexpected lushness ‘neath burning Zia skies

Far away New Mexico, so different from mine,
Dry air though hot not seeming as much;
Along continental divide even flat land is high,
With clear air making the sky seem so tall and wide

Place of jackrabbits, antelopes and roadrunners too,
Alien landscape compared to what I’m used to,
With so many discoveries ‘round every bend
And sudden rainbows as deluging storms quickly end

Land of proud Indian nations long ago subdued
Yet their heritage and kin still soaks the Earth,
Land of the Zia sun where Kokopelli runs free,
Whose stark beautiful landscape will ne’er part my mind,
bidding my return again sometime – if only for a while….

© 2008-2009 Hemlock Evergreen