The desert is dry and unforgiving

I can see summer on the horizon

And it sends an ache into my stomach

These lands are desolate

Those who have the most are not grateful but rather defensive

Where has the soul of this land gone?

I’ve watched bodies in the streets

Of people without shelter

Finding it only as they are zipped into body bags

I’ve seen leashed animals forced to trek the stove burner ground

Their caretakers actions leaving them burned and bloody

The heat takes so much from us all