Arizona

Stretched out from both my hands
Lie the parched, arid lands,
Thirsty and dry and bare,
Fanned by a furnace air;
Serrate against hard skies
Their mistless mountains rise,
Or, in the distance seen,
Glow with an opal sheen,
Violet, and blue, and rose,
Their gorgeous color flows,
Or ochre, orange, chrome,
Against a turquoise dome;
While the heat haze between
Vibrates, a hueless screen;
The sand around my feet
Glares in the sun's fierce heat.
Drifted and driven apace
It knows no resting place;
Despite the awful drought
Weird cacti writhe about,
And Spanish dagger sheaves
Spread out their fleshy leaves--
But here the faint heart clings
To any hope of springs--
Ah! here may vain ears strain
For blessed, dripping rain--
And here may burned eyes glare
On many a mirage fair:--
Far from all human reach
Lost bones may bare and bleach--
Stretched out from both my hands
Lie the parched, arid lands.