Hejira Poems | Examples

Hejira

(“Desert Dreams II”, 2023, original encaustic)

Forty days and forty nights
Alone in the desert is no small thing,
Demons after all are demons
No matter how big or small, 
No matter if for a moment or a day,
But lifetime after lifetime we all wander,
An endless passage of days and nights,
Filled with just our share
Of demons and angels.

But what are these phantom beings after all, 
Projections of our psyche 
Or cosmic forces which in turn have projected us?

And still we travel on
As days turn into nights, and nights to days
Angels morphing into demons and back
Putting our psyches on display
Like the contents of a mind laid out 
On the front lawn for yard sale
All of it cleared out and willingly let go, 
For pennies on the dollar,
Or a garage ready for spring cleaning
Preparing for one last bucket-list road trip
To the West and south with its endless deserts
Seekers and vision questers
Wandering, 'round and ‘round
Searching for a way out but not back.

(2/2/26)