A Matter of Perspective

So much of our reality depends on our attitude and our perspective. The following two poems, I believe, serve to illustrate this concept. The first one I wrote when I was in a pretty bleak emotional place. The second was inspired by a group discussion of Isaiah 43: "I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

Desert

The scorched earth

is parched and cracked

and even the desert flowers

wither in the blazing heat.

The wind has scoured

and the sun has baked

every trace of life

from this barren landscape.

But in time

the rains will fall—

soft at first, and then

with a torrent

that bathes everything

in the hope of new life.

Biota

The blistering sun
makes shimmering waves
against the baked earth.
Most life
would not survive an hour
in the blast furnace air.

And yet
some things thrive here.

Hardy plants
stubbornly adapt
with deep roots
and spiny leaves.
Scorpions and tiny lizards
scurry between shade and sun,
fighting
to eke out their lives
in this alien landscape
that they call
home.