Palm Springs for the First Time

Palm Springs for the First Time

Here, where desert palms offer praise
to gods I've never felt
before,
landlocked oregano heat
blisters the tongue and lizards
melt into sand and stone.
Here, where movement is
slow,
left to my own devises,
I just might go
feral,
spread myself eagle, like the one overhead,
set loose a coyote howl,
let dry wind chap inner
thighs, open wide to a world
not possible
in waves of laundry,
paperwork,
SUV's,
DVD's,
heavy metal,
PCP's, pumped-up, jumped-up
hipsters and gangsters,
MTV and wannabe's.
Here, in full blaze,
ripe as a prickly pear blossom,
I just might become one
with a high-noon shadow,
sink in a desert wave,
erase my watered-down world,
sleep in the palm
of a newfound god.