Lew Watts

Jornada del Muerto

footprints 
from the Pleistocene 
high desert clouds 

Early morning. The winds that exposed this layer of ancient mud are quiet today, and a soft dew coats the gypsum crystals of the flats. These are the best conditions for seeing them. Darker gray and slightly shadowed, the tracks of two adults and a child slouch away to the north. Off to the east, spoor of a giant sloth, keeping its distance, wary in its walk. The humans’ prints never waver. They know where they are going. 

traces of the past 
all blown away . . . 
Trinity Site 

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About the Author

Lew Watts is the haibun co-editor of Frogpond and the author of Tick-Tock (Snapshot Press, 2019), a haibun collection that received an Honorable Mention in the Haiku Society of America’s 2020 Merit Book Awards. His publications include the novel Marcel Malone and the poetry collection Lessons for Tangueros. He lives in Chicago.