Carved in Red Bryce Canyon Utah, 2007

by Amy Uyematsu

Delicate arches, spires, and castles
giant robed goddesses of stone
await our arrival

~ ~ ~

Unimagined,
this stark red beauty -
almost cruel

~ ~ ~

Mountaintop arch - where
stone, raven, lovers
touch sky

~ ~ ~

Endless walls of red -
now pink then orange -
whose sly paintbrush

~ ~ ~

One more juniper -
desert sandstone gives birth
to evergreen

~ ~ ~

Just enough hardness,
just enough balance -
local secret for survival

~ ~ ~

Stone keeps asking
whose voice will sing
our stories