Kristen Lindquist

The Way In

Follow the unmarked road out of town, crossing the cattle grates of the open range into the desert where saguaro stand sentinel and red-tails watch from atop every utility pole. These low mountains, dotted with sagebrush and cactus, ride vast plates underground. In a mine pit you’ll find their fault lines, along with a snake’s bare bones and maybe some blue chunks of chrysocolla. You’re getting closer. Pocket the rocks. Take the side road that dead-ends at a ghost town. Failure blows through with the dust. You’re nowhere near the river. A phainopepla will call querulously from the mesquite. Look for a dry wash gleaming white in the moonlight, marked with the hoofprints of animals you’ll never see. You’re almost there. 

every plant a supplicant desert sky

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About the Author

Kristen Lindquist is a poet, writer, and naturalist in Camden, Maine. She has published two collections of poetry and maintains a daily haiku blog at kristenlindquist.com/blog.