I am an erratic. br Look at my edges br How they pierce the landscape br Of the desert each day. br I am forever still. br I take in everything. br The reptiles crawling legs br Paw at me each day… br Searching for a pulse? br I am dead to the desert br Yet kept alive by it. br Golden sands and br Dunes in the distance, br I have eyed one for years. br How I long to be rolled br To its edge. br br I exfoliate and blister br With such thoughts. br Every night the moon comes. br I talk to her, br I know she’s a she. br She never replies. br And her silence br Makes my core ache. br Her sullen silence br Is the epitome br Of something I'll never be. br br In the desert this suffering br Cannot continue. br The others laugh and frown br But I don’t speak reptilish. br The cacti can prick me. br I feel nothing. br But I'll persist and br Continue to whisper br To her on cold nights br While my outer shell br Rolls with salty droplets. br br I will make it to that peak. br For someday the virulent br Freeze and thaw will br Crack me to pieces. br But better that br Than my pounding heart. br And I will blow over br Those rolling sand dunes br With or without br The silence of moons.