Homeward Bound

three small, single-colored butterflies
yellow, orange, and white flit
among tired looking Brittlebush, Sage
and Desert Mallow

in the dry riverbed
waves and sloshes of the last flood waters
rolling down to the Gila are baked
into the mud, looking like fossilized water

dry and dead grasses glimmer whitish
in the September morning sun
under a summer-blue sky
not a cloud to be found

riding jersey sweat-soaked through
bare legs reddening over
the already baked-in summer tan
bone-tired homeward bound

–LE – 9/6/24