by John Garmon
Out towards Red Rock
People are sleeping in their cars.
Summer heat won’t let up.
Midnight it’s 100 degrees.
Children cry for food.
Everyone is thirsty.
Ghosts come walking
From shadows of boulders.
A fire, a brilliant flash
In the sky like finger painting
Casts light on dry lakes,
Heat mirages in the day.
In airport night tourists
Stand in tired lines
Ready to go home
Back to unsullied lights
Blinking on the Strip
Trapped in terror dreams
Feral cats and dogs
Slink low to the ground
Near yucca and ocotillo
To escape lean coyotes
Hungry for any meat.
Darkness retreats
Still hidden
In a neon universe.
Most of the gods
Are lost in mesquite.
An hour before dawn
The long night
Cools down for sleep.