Open Country

There is
Somewhere
A level cliff shelf
Wide enough
For a campfire
And reclining body.

Before it
Stretches open country
Mostly barren
With only assorted vegetation
No higher
Than a horse’s belly
Distant mountains
Blue and plum
Between earth and sky.

In my saddle bag would be
Beans
Coffee
And salt pork
Enough for a few days.

Beyond that I’ve not thought.

There’s no need for travel.
No need for anything
Beyond time spent
Not worried about
What lies behind
Or either side.

Let me spend myself
Gazing at open country
And the phalanx
Of sky and scrub.
Let the smells
Of baked earth
Rock and sand
Fill my head.
Let day's lost breeze
Play upon my weary form.
Let me drink my coffee
Eat the last of my food
Then I will lay myself down
To dream of what was
And will never again be.

Then the gold and scarlet
Cords of dusk will descend
And I wake anew
On a better morn
With a fast horse
And upward trails.

But tonight
There is an ache
In the sunset
Equal to that
In my heart.

Both
Must come
To nothing
In open country.