By Will Falk
these deserts lack the scaffolded
red-bud Judas trees
there are only Joshua trees
though they are drenched
in silver pieces
of starlight spying
where there is no Jericho
no Serrano on Serrano sands
no Cahuilla on Cahuilla lands
no Chemehuevi anymore
the original people
who used to be out here
are mostly gone now
there’s only Joshua trees
who gave their wood
to settlers and to miners
to Mormon invaders
and to tourists
only gnarled Joshua trees
looking to the sky
lonely and haunting me
I recently moved to San Diego from Milwaukee, WI where I was a public defender. I am looking for life outside of law. My first passion is poetry and I am interested in the way the land speaks through the poet. If you can’t find me drinking too much coffee in Cafe Calabria, I’ll be on a rock somewhere in Joshua Tree.