The Living Desert
The desert is not empty, it's not so.
To many living things it's home.
To plants that bloom and grow
And many critters that here roam
.
So let me introduce you to a few
That live here in the desert heat.
Most you will know, some might be new.
That you in rhyme will meet.
Saguaros stand there proud and still.
They are the desert's timeless sentinel,
You see them way up on the desert hill.
I hope you also feel their magic spell.
When you come home and ask your mate
For tweezers, alcohol, and iodine,
You know the warning came too late.
You made acquaintance with a cactus spine.
Then there are sticks, all straight and plain.
And full of thorns, they look quite dead.
But watch what happens after spring's wet rain.
The ocotillo greens, then flowers fiery red.
There was a French Canadian monsieur
Who ran head on into a Palo Verde.
The thorns drew blood. He said 'parbleu',
Then used a word he shouldn't: 'merde'.
My sweetheart's garden lost its bloom.
What killed it was not ice nor hail.
What caused the flowers early doom
Was just a hungry long eared cottontail.
The blackbirds love to congregate.
I also feed them bird food, I confess,
And watch them eat. But do I hate
To see my trailer's roof. Oh, what a mess.
There is a bird still of another breed,
Both in the desert, on the river and the lake,
But do not feed it song bird seed.
The snowbird rather likes a steak.
Another bird spells speed from tail to bill
As he is sort of horizontal, all stretched out.
At first he runs, and then stands still:
Roadrunner on his daily hunting round.
And with a bright red flower in her hair
My wife looked pretty, trim and tall.
She fell asleep in her most fav'rite chair,
Until the time a hummingbird did call.
There also is a desert critter with a name
Oft mispronounced because it's rather corny.
It will not bite or sting, it's almost tame,
It is the desert Horned Toad, - not horny.
A snowbird lady spied a garden hose
And left a whirlwind in her wake
When fleeing from the scene, because
She thought it was a rattlesnake.
A lizard's legs are short, you see,
But spooked he scoots with great alacrity.
Imagine what a runner you could be
If you could shake your legs as fast as he.
Some critters sing, some hoot, some bleep,
Some bark, some coo, or screech, some neigh.
Last night a train wreck killed my sleep
I thought. But no, it was a burro's bray.
And on another perfect desert night
The breezes bring sweet music on their wing
While thousand stars are glitt'ring bright.
It's nature's music when coyotes sing.
There is much more to this, my tale
The owl, the hawk, the buzzard, and the dear,
The fox, the mouse, and then the quail.
And so much more. You bet, I love it here.