36 Comments
User's avatar
Thea Wood's avatar

Snakeskin tumbling by

Flies picking a dusty corpse

Death, thy name is Drought

Honeygloom's avatar

Such great imagery! Very apocalyptic🖤

Caleb Taylor's avatar

I have a few this time.

Dirt dead and useless

Over used, no nutrients

We die with the dirt

——

Dry heat like murder

Drowning crops without water

Mother’s a killer

——

She’s killing herself

In a bad relationship

Gone dry from abuse

Honeygloom's avatar

Nice! I really like them all, but I think #1 is my favorite, such a dark connection to make🖤

Songsterfunsterhamster's avatar

Stagnant river dreams.

How succulent are spiders?

Will stones slake a thirst?

Honeygloom's avatar

So good! Succulent spiders are a mouth image I will not soon forget😝🖤

A.P. Murphy's avatar

Mamma's dry dugs gone dry.

'Mamma dry as dust', I cry.

Leave body in the dust and sigh.

Honeygloom's avatar

I love how your poems always tell a little bit of a story and leave me wondering. It’s very cool🖤

A.P. Murphy's avatar

Thanks a lot that's the intention that they be sort of fragments of stories almost

erniet's avatar

Moisture withheld from

Seared stones and wan withered shrubs

Wanting libations

Honeygloom's avatar

Very nice! Desert plants are so awesome, love that you gave them a shout out🖤

erniet's avatar

They bite, too!😂

You should do a plant based horror on Jumping Cholla...😉

Honeygloom's avatar

I actually have a mini cholla in my cactus collection, it’s in a pot with a little handle so I can avoid touching it at all costs😂

erniet's avatar

Ants drag dead dry leaves

Across sand and broken stones

Meager fare foraged

Honeygloom's avatar

Ok this made me really worried about desert ants and I had to stop and google to see what they could eat😅 Nice job evoking emotion! 🖤

erniet's avatar

Thanks; stole it from one of my longer poems:

https://ordinaryaverageguy.substack.com/p/dust-and-shadows

Caro Henry's avatar

Cracked earth gasps for rain

Hope fades like water vapor

Bones of trees bleached white

Honeygloom's avatar

The middle line is such a great image! So good!🖤

Richbee's avatar

Cracked hard pan seeks

Sun’s shelter as arid dust flies

Withers age wizened ways

Skeletons worn white

Not a cloud in sight

Rain dances bring relief.

Honeygloom's avatar

Well done! The last line is so hopeful, love it🖤

Gloria Horton-Young's avatar

Rain is a precious commodity in Las Vegas.

Dust rises, sun bakes

Cracks in the earth yawning wide—

Where is the mercy?

.

Eyes on parched fields,

Fingers trace empty rain gauge—

Dreams of cloud's embrace.

.

Thirsty land whispers,

Longing for the sky's sweet tears—

Promises unkept.

Honeygloom's avatar

These are all so heartbreaking, it must be a little terrifying to live in such a place🖤

Gloria Horton-Young's avatar

It’s the high desert. Water has always been in short supply but the county has great water procedures in place.

Dylan Delgado's avatar

When the last drop leaves

One thing shall remain - creatures

becoming bacon

Honeygloom's avatar

🫠get it while it’s hot! Really great and very disturbing image!🖤

erniet's avatar

Grim wastelands beckon

Pink plump tourists unwary of

How thirst ravages

Honeygloom's avatar

Ooo dark! I love this, ignorance is the true horror in the desert.

erniet's avatar

I think of all the people I met who got stuck unprepared in the Mojave...a lot of Europeans! Completely alien environment to them!😂

Honeygloom's avatar

Oh yeah, huh… they’d have to go to Africa or I guess Mongolia, that’s a different kind of desert though I think. Wild. I grew up camping in the deserts in Utah, I absolutely love those red rocks❤️

erniet's avatar

I'm in central NM now...not desert, just on the edge (it starts just south of us around Socorro). Still pretty dry, though...😂

🌸 Carolyn Jones 🌸's avatar

An arid wasteland

Searching the ether for hope

Within barren skies.

Honeygloom's avatar

You always write tragedy so beautifully, I love this so much🖤

🌸 Carolyn Jones 🌸's avatar

Thank you ❤️🩷

Chris J. Franklin's avatar

Too many long years,

Left parched and unloved, so now,

The land thirsts for blood... 😎

Honeygloom's avatar

Love it! The land gains sentience due to neglect. Very cool🖤

Chris J. Franklin's avatar

It will have its vengeance! Haha... 😎