Desert’s Song

by Kris Ann Valdez

DESERT’S SONG

The desert sings in wildflowers—

a bright, botanic melody.

Mid-February to April,

listen to the verse of

yellow fiddlenecks,

trumpeting vines, and

chiming lupines.

And to wild heliotropes,

fairy dusters, wool stars,

and owl clover, to whom

belong the bridge.

Let your voice be heard—

red maids, little fillatre's,

and chicories.

Such dainty sopranos

harmonizing

with globemallow's baritone

and ocotillo's alto.

There, behold!

a humming bee

and flapping hummingbird

join your chorus, too.

All the desert sings this song,

for sweet, is the season.

Before summer

carried by wind,

scattering the earth

with a composition so pure, the land

memorizes the refrain.

KRIS ANN VALDEZ

Kris Ann is an Arizona native, wife, and mother to three children. Her creative work appears in Ekstasis, Clayjar Review, and Calla Press, among others. Follow her fiction and poetry @annvalwrites, journalism @krisannvaldezwrites, or on Substack.