Sitting near the edge of this red and gold escarpment that juts over the creek below, I gaze at your splendor far from billboards and illusions of self-importance, know that I will carry you with me always, call upon this moment of stillness as the sprawl of civilization overwhelms I will conjure your rugged peaks, your canyons and creeks, junipers and cottonwoods, sycamores, feel my feet traverse your ground, the inclines and descents always with trust that you will let me pass safely, keep me steady, and respect because you have welcomed me to breathe with you, to forge a bond, a promise for each to preserve the other in the face of encroachment, tattered truths and noise that ensures we never understand silence.

May your wildness thrive

despite sins of human greed

may you never surrender.

(Note: Haibun is a poetic form that combines a prose poem and Haiku. It was popularized in the 17 century by Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho.)

Out Stealing Water, was published by Regal House Press, August 30. 2022.  Her short story, (Turbulence, Ocotillo Review) was nominated for the 2019 Pushcart prize for short fiction. Other stories and poems have appeared in Superstition Review, Forge, I70 Review, Soundings Review, Four Chambers Literary Magazine, Lascaux Review, Lunaris Review, Journal of Microliterature, NewVerseNews, Saranac Review, Gateway Review and Reunion-The Dallas Review. She lives in Tempe, Arizona.  Her website is roxannelynndoty.com.  Follow her on Facebook (www.facebook.com/roxannedoty.739) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/rdoty4) and Twitter (Roxanne@roxanne_doty)