rays beat flaking skin —
heat distorts the horizon,
warping the view in golden light.
sand stretches faraway —
light divides from dark at ridges;
a winding path walked before.
clay stripes line a plateaued mountain —
nearby cacti reach for the sky,
but can’t quite match the stripes.
trip, the parallax shifts —
the dunes cascade,
taking life with them —
pieces eat it into darkness.
thorned bushes block the view —
the cacti reach above the plateau,
and ruin its evenness —
only slivers of the stripes stay visible.