april 8th, 2023 - great sand dunes
past the withered, twisted trees
with sand slipping between the exposed roots,
and the little creek, dry except for when
toe-high waves of mud-choked water
draw a line marking the park proper,
it's a long walk to the dunes,
and most people are happy to stop
and sit down and draw shapes in the sand
or grab it and huck it at each other
or just watch it fall between their fingers,
while half the people who do make it
to the first few little dunes
run up and down them a couple times,
see the others towering over their heads,
and decide they'd better call it a day.
not that I blame them - whoever's left
has to walk up ridges tall as skyscrapers
or half-lean, half-climb up the sides, either way
sand crumbling under their feet and threatening
to send them on their knees, make them crawl,
maybe even tumble them down the hill,
and all the while the sun has its eyes
on them and only them,
so the almost-white dunes burn to the touch
and the air carries away every drop of water
it can find, and even the wind
doesn't cool them down any,
and there's so many peaks and valleys
between them and the highest part of the dunes.
I'd hike it at night, is what I'm saying.
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