When my time comes
if I have a choice
I'm going to leave everything
and follow the setting sun.
Westward, I will go
until I reach the desert;
then I shall sit
amidst the rock and sand.
Night will gently fall
and I will gaze into the black
frozen in wonder and awe
at the celestial splendor,
Of a sky
Seemingly infinite with stars;
galaxies, innumerable;
universes upon universes;
dimensions unknowable.
A Coyote will howl
somewhere in the distance
plaintive and lonely
it alone penetrates the silence.
When the day returns
the sun will heat
the ancient rock
burnt orange and hard.
The stone motionless
but slowly wearing down
year after year
century upon century.
The infrequent rains
and constant winds each combining
to deconstruct
bit by tiny bit.
Then, when the time comes
I will pass from this world
onto the next,
Farewell to rock and sand!
And to Saguaros standing tall
old, with many arms
waiting patiently and silent
for the rains to come again.
And to snakes and lizards
to Chollo and Prickly pear
to meandering arroyos
dry as dust.
To this land
a survivor of time
relentless and inexorable
ceaseless and unforgiving.
My soul will catch a ride
on a zephyr
only the body will remain
lifeless and inert.
I will cling no more
to the material world
my spirit expansive in the wind
like a flag unfurled.
In the sky,
On my way, perhaps I will see
the ghost of Geronimo
his skin, tanned and leathery
and Apaches long dead
Or I'll see
Coronado with his
plumed helmet and shining breastplate
on a regal steed,
Conquistadors following
with lance and sword
still searching
for the seven cities of gold.
The sum will burn my skin
and suck the moisture
from my body
until it hangs sallow upon the bones.
The flesh
will deterioriate
and dissolve
and then vanish.
The bones
will eventually turn to dust
and will be caught
upon a summer breeze
that will carry
the particles that remain
over the harsh and lovely
landscape
to land
in a canyon floor
or atop a high lonely butte
or a sacred mesa inhabited by spirits
they will scatter everywhere.
Now part of the unyielding
unchanging and seemingly eternal
rock and sand!
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem