Coyote's Corner
Field Lessons and Games, Insights and Resources
Posted in Student Writing | Unplugged | Youth
A Poem by CFI Student Carter Reynolds written at Professor Valley Field Camp
Desert Nights
Welcome,
Welcome - Lovers, haters, givers, takers
Welcome - to all those who dance and sing, to
those who dip and dodge on foot and
wing
Welcome
To the desert night.
Unwelcome, Unwelcome--to the Jeep-filled roads, to your Unkempt little trash pile loads Unwelcome you foul little mouth talkers, you Put-downers and cigarette throwers. A flame--to the night. Flame. What--is a flame? A toxic word, gossip to the crowd? A left-out child while the other feels proud? Things Which hope to take down the desert sands Things that cleanse the cryptic bonds Things that kill the sagebrush grass, and shrubs Things which kill with fire, and a flame. So welcome, to the skill sets and the trees Welcome to the desert nights and unwelcoming to flame. The fire shall stay but a memory...


Welcome--to the desert night. Welcome--to the crickets' lively chirps, to the moonlight crested canyon cliffs, and to an army of stars, shining from but only lightyears away. Welcome to an enchanted park of sights the scampering field mice, pittering of bunnies, and the faraway houndlike coyote's howls, hoping--for something better Welcome. To a book of smells--breathe in, how deeply through your nose and pick up all the little notes--the cactus flowers, the earthy tones of the kicked up sand from the pouncing owls above, and the smoldering fire--smoke traveling up to the heavens, leaving our world. Feel the deep bark of the juniper trees, run your finger through the soil, and walk up to the tip-top of a rocky outcrop. Do you feel that? the prideful feeling inside? The feeling representing the crickets' chirps, the moonlight crested canyon cliffs, and an army of stars, shining from but only lightyears away... Welcome to the enchanted park of sights Welcome to a book of smells Welcome to the playful array of touch Welcome, you all, to the desert night.