steemitschoolpoetry english poetry
This is my ninety-fourth entry for the Steemit School of Poetry 100 Days Challenge.
XEROPHYTE
dry rocks
spiky leaves
thorns
and more thorns
prickly green
scant green
harsh sun
breaks the rocks
harsh winds
want to uproot
every shoot
only the sturdies critters
can live here
as long as they find a shadow
as long as they don't need water
all layers of this geological cake
are exposed to the elements
a sea existed here
but dried out
uncountable crust shifts
have turned this land into
crystals and hard edges
there's nothing soft here
nothing welcoming
yet life thrives
in that peculiar beauty
the beauty of the things that cost
the buoyancy of the fittest
the survival of the sturdiest
flaky rocks under your feet
rarely a jeep track
small leaves among long thorns
the wind bends trees into submission
and the morning dew is the only
water one would ever lick
and the cool nights the only
thing resembling any kind of comfort
this is nature's Sparta
hot sun
strong wind
thorny plants
small lizards
NOTES
This poem talks about the austere beauty of the flora in Venezuela's Paraguaná peninsula.