The sun of Yucca Valley is encouraging After Santa Ana was discouraging And now I am a man with a tan and a plan To remain in this oasis encouraged Never go back to where I had been discouraged Again now but remain forever here in Paradise to stay in this desert hideaway That is what they say it is and I say I agree What does freedom look like? Something like this A paranoid schizophrenic unafraid In spite of myself of the progress I have made Ready for something or anything somehow More than a hundred miles from Santa Ana now And when the desert clouds crowd around me then I feel like the universe has found me again Wondering under the Milky Way I know Sun moon and stars will follow me wherever I go And what does freedom feel like? Something like a kiss Somehow sent away by serendipity Shown to my own Lancean specificity Encouraged to be writing from Paradise After having been discouraged once maybe twice Or more less encouraging places before With jackrabbits and Joshua Trees all around Encouragingly lost in Paradise found That is what I say it is and it agrees with me After Santa Ana was discouraging The sun of Yucca Valley is encouraging Steven Curtis Lance