Desert Dust – A Poem

Dust Storm, Hidden Mountains © 2013 Bo Mackison

Such ferocity, these desert winds.
Dust devils spinning.

The mountains rise ten thousand feet
above the desert floor,
vanish in the dusty clouds.

Yellow ochre granules, desert spit,
frenetic dance, rise like mini-tornadoes,
slam into Santa Rita’s rocky face.

Desert powder settles on
the bristling Ponderosa pines.

Broad billed hummingbirds, in defense,
fluff to twice their size
and burrow their faces in their feathers.

Prickly pears cast faint shadows in the arroyo
through cloud filtered sunlight.
And pollen drops, like yellow rain.