Between Here and New Mexico
I feel an urge to be gone from here
a longing to be on the road
because somewhere between here and New Mexico
an unseen dust devil dances joyously
across the desert
toward a mountain
without a name.
Here in Tucson
the Catalina’s are cloaked in cloud
while midday traffic snarls
but I can clearly
hear the same music
that dust devil dances to.
Don’t you?
—Bill Baber
This article appears in Apr 13-19, 2017.
I loved dust devils, as a kid growing up I remember running to be inside of every dust devil that we saw. Trying to stay inside as long as possible. The one who came out with the most dust on our faces/eyelashes and eyebrows was declared the winner.