A Desert Trek Poem by Valsa George
A Desert Trek
Climbing up the steep n’ rocky paths
We were struck by the beauty of the mountains
With their towering summits
Kissing the seams of the heavens
Beyond, sprawled endless stretch of sand!
With the sun going down in the west,
The surroundings were blazed in amber light
And the whole land lay in a magic spell cast
We were heading to our camp in the desert
Part of a trek, planned months in advance
After trudging several miles on foot
The rest we covered in a wagon got by chance
The desert greeted us like a warm host.
After the blistering heat of the day,
The night had turned pleasantly cool
Promising us the boon of a delectable stay
The sky had turned black and inky
But the moon had arced high over head
Casting a metallic glow of light
Turning the rocks into a shade of chrome red
The sands seemed radiant and beckoning
There, around a camp fire, in a circular pattern we sat
From far it looked a glowing scarlet pyre
Often the wind passed the burning faggots with a pat
The whirling and wheeling current of air
Drew and redrew, etched and erased,
Shifting patterns in the desert sand,
As an inspired artist with perfection crazed
Sitting beneath the star studded sky
We sang and danced, inhaling the desert air
Forgetting the world of strife left behind
Merging into a space eerie but fair
As the wind blew wild, sometimes running amok,
Blinding our eyes with dust and sand,
We helped each other blow off the grain
And shielded our eyes with the hand
Sand dunes peeked here and there
And a caravan of camels with bells in their neck
Was crossing the length of sands stretching infinite
Carrying turbaned riders on their humpy back
Beside the small shelf of a tawny rock
We saw a host of cacti in splendid flower,
Desert blooms looming in arid space
And elf owls roosting under cover
The wide stretch, dry and sterile
Lay vast and mysterious in the luminous night
Sometimes we felt as if lost in a land abstruse
That extended before us beyond all boundary and limit
Amid the bellowing smoke, rising skyward
And the sound of crackling tinder
We stretched our eyes over many a mile
Of that ‘terra incognita’ in rising wonder
If there is jocund company, even here
There can be so much fun and life!
Squatting on haunches and sipping hot tea
We sat round the campfire, forgetting all earthly strife.
It was indeed a tour of discovery,
Into the heart of a fathomless sea of sand
Man has ever been a relentless explorer
The lure of the mysterious, he can never withstand!
Once embarked upon, your journey in desert became as much an existential quest as a natural-history trek......... Valsa........the greatest ever on Nature expressed so splendidly..............
Let me guess, were u in the Rajasthan desert? I always admire sand dune patterns, the creamy lookin sea of sand. Yor epic was fascinatin fit to be a Nat Geo poem! Kudos fellow Indian poetess.
Sand dunes peeked here and there And a caravan of camels with bells in their neck Was crossing the length of sands stretching infinite Carrying turbaned riders on their humpy back.. this sketch I love the most in this poem of wonderful streams of thoughts in the desert.
MY FAVORITE stanza so far [for its 1st and 4th lines and for the rhyming]: “The desert greeted us like a warm host. After the blistering heat of the day, The night had turned pleasantly cool Promising us the boon of a delectable stay” more favorite lines: “From far it looked a glowing scarlet pyre Often the wind passed the burning faggots with a pat” ……..sounds like you were pioneers traveling in the western U.S.150 years ago! “The whirling and wheeling current of air Drew and redrew, etched and erased, ” …………nice w/w and e/e alliterations. “We helped each other blow off the grain” …………. only one grain! :) a nice story, reminiscent of pioneers in U.S., but also reminds me of middle eastern and African scenes I might imagine. camels were imported to part of the southwestern U.S. many years ago for use by the Army I believe. this shall go to the September showcase and into MyPoemList. thanks. bri :)
The desert greeted us like a warm host. After the blistering heat of the day, The night had turned pleasantly cool Promising us the boon of a delectable stay A poet said, For every dark and troubled night there is a day of sunny rest, but a hot desert is a contrast, where a pleasant night avenges the hardships of a tiring day.
A beautiful elaboration of the desert through an trekking story in which I was totally absorbed. gave a lovely feeling as if I also was a member with you in that camp fire in the desert. , , , , , , , , Loved it
What a magnificent poem. Such depth of details and flow I don't even have enough words of praise accept a big thank you for writing and sharing. I felt like accompanying you by camp fire!
The wide stretch, dry and sterile Lay vast and mysterious in the luminous night Sometimes we felt as if lost in a land abstruse That extended before us beyond all boundary and limit.....great like it...
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/24/2024 12:28:11 AM # 1.0.0.1119
I have never read a poem that extols the form and the properties of a desert like this. As absolute good and evil are just our manipulations, we are indeed expected to see the right in the wrong and vice versa.Our nature in her genuine entity has nothing to be abhorred in lumpsum and often she craves for human mercy upon her.Your trekking over these sanddunes and the often deserted tracks fills in a vacuum that was much needed in the PH.Then comes the charm of its rendering and the sequence of thoughts intervowen with catchy lines.An excellent tribute paid to unsung and silent beauty of your choice this is! Thank you madam for sharing this write madam.