Poetry by Kyle Watkins

              a long time ago,

My poppy said to me

the desert is an old, old place

Far older than me,

the desert is sand and wind and dust

full of rats and snakes and sun

but dust comes from something

From roots he said, roots from long ago

roots from plants and tree

in some place full of life

with animals way bigger than me

Towering high above

He points to mesas and plateaus

he says, those, there, see?

are all that’s left of tree gargantua

Far older than you and me

Immutable
Immortal
Unshakeable
Unending
Beginning
of the end

A scale beyond all
Beneath, feet approach, undaunted
Human, in their scope

Unyielding
Unforgiving
Unadapting
Obstinate
Tired
Weary
Proud “Proud?” Proud.

Stubborn
Foolish
Wasteful
Meaningless
Courage
Human or a tree?