Vinyl strap holds leather tight
Piñon smoke curls through the night
Adobe wall reflects the heat
Telescope keeps patient seat
Turquoise sky turns violet deep
Mountain silhouettes asleep
Lens cap breathes with morning dew
Santa Fe wakes slow and new
I watch the desert write its name
In sand and salt and candle flame
No prayer required no hymn to sing
Just brass and glass and everything
Motel sign flickers buzzing red
Voyager rests his weary head
Ice clinks low in plastic cup
Horizon swallows sunlight up
Turquoise sky turns violet deep Mountain silhouettes asleep
Lens cap breathes with morning dew
Santa Fe wakes slow and new
I watch the desert write its name
In sand and salt and candle flame
No prayer required no hymn to sing
Just brass and glass and everything
Condensation beads on barrel cold
Stories etched in metal old
Altar boy remembers Latin verse
Now I scan the universe
Choir robes hang in cedar chest
Hymnal pages yellowed pressed
But here the stars don't need a creed
They bleed their light they do not plead
I watch the desert write its name
In sand and salt and candle flame
No prayer required no hymn to sing
Just brass and glass and everything
Dawn paints mesa rose and gold
New day's story starts to fold
Vinyl strap holds leather tight
Brass veranda keeps the light
I watch the desert write its name
In sand and salt and candle flame
No prayer required no hymn to sing
Just brass and glass and everything
Brass tube catches mesa light
Dust settles on curved glass
