desert

sing a hymn--for those who fear in the desert
clear and carrying as sung by coyote
cutting across all the bleak expanses
that even the sun fails to delineate
clear and cool as a stream murmurring
between the boulders, nearby
promising you will rest in the shade
soft and clear as rain falling in the dust
clean and clear as wind blowing off the sea
the shape of other coastlines, buried in salt
clinging to its feathers