...the transcendental must involve
the strange and unfamiliar...
—Mark Rothko

So much desert in the red sunlight
between me and the shadow
that tries to unloose itself
from the anchor of my body.

I hear a voice, at first unfamiliar,
a voice of fire and embers,
then my voice proclaiming everything
I have said and everything I will say.

I turn to run, but my shadow
snags me and we are caught,
darkness and light, anchor and ship
sinking together into a vast ocean

I never took the time to chart.