Desert Song
By John Herlihy

I hear sound
I hear singing
It is nothing
Only desert song.

I hear wind
The wind is bringing
Echoes of more sound
Behind a distant mound.

I hear stones
Cracking cold and dry
Sudden sounds
Like lips smacking.

I hear palm trees
They are whispering
Hesitant sounds
Unsure like lisping.

I hear bones wooing
Cooling in the shade
Bone white in color
Like doves cooing.

I hear snakes slithering
Smoothly across the sand
In the cold shivering
Watchful over the land.

I hear the falcon crying
Soaring and falling
Careless in the air
Like someone dying.

Listen, I hear something
Someone calling
Crying out in the distance
As in a misty dream.

I hear silence beyond sound
I see nothing in the darkness
I really hear just about nothing
Only the faintest desert song.