Out in the silent desert

Under the hunter's moon

The road was a ribbon of silver

Winding away in the gloom

A glimpse of motion behind me

And loping behind my van

Made of cactus spines and mesquite twigs

Was the figure of a man



My foot came down on the pedal

I shot around a curve

Then my eyes leapt to the mirror

And it almost made me swerve

The figure raced on behind me

At a distance still the same

And a bitter wind swept through my soul

A dread without a name



All through the midnight desert

Silent and cold and black

The figure kept my changing pace

And never left my track

So I slowed for the wraith behind me

And stopped on an exit ramp

I locked the doors and waited there

With palms and forehead damp



A mesquite clatter filled me

And rattled my quaking heart

As catus talons caressed the glass

That kept us still apart

And I turned my face to gaze out

After several fruitless tries

And my soul was bound and broken

In the hollows that were its eyes



I watch the taillights fading

On the silver road ahead

And the mesquite clatter fills my ears

But my heart is still and dead

I flex my cactus talons

That never will see the sun

And watch a car go racing by

And my feet began to run











Words and music:  Kathy Mar



Copyright 2002 Kathy Mar