Dying in Death Valley

Hopeless abandonment and torment

Never a short bout of peace, pain every waking moment

Regardless of how much I work towards atonement

I am stuck with my suffering as a form of payment

Trapped between a hard place in the past

A distant vortex forms, its winds moving fast

If I could just work myself free and make it past

The old landing, I may survive the wind blast

Trapped out here on the desert rock

A pool of blood forms near where carrion birds flock

Their eyes, hungry, starving, take stock

Of my appearance, as they wait for an attack from a hawk

Cowards, such beasts, have they no sense of aid

Or do they wait until death’s toll is paid

Life on the playa, bleached from the sun, shall fade

What I wouldn’t give to be stuck right now in a glade

Between a rock in a hard place

My face now face to face against this rock face

This trying expedition has pushed me every pace

I could use some help in my case

An expedition into the desert waste

As I searched for a specimen with haste

Now trapped amongst a mountain, the desert salty taste

A rain brought boulders and crushed my arm into a paste

My mistake was my own

Leaving me stuck out alone

Every shift of the boulder brings a groan

And every tear I let out with a moan

Chasing arthropods was my life quest

In my field I was consider the brightest, the best

What a fool I made of myself, saying, in jest

With good luck and fortune, I was not truly blessed

Cursed I remain here, sheltered slightly against the heat

The desert dust brings to me the bitter taste of defeat

Doing my research alone now feels bittersweet

As a young researcher, I should have stayed in my seat

The desert rains come once more, bringing with them life

Death valley stabs at my heart, slowly killing me like a knife

I just wish, through all of my strife

I made it back home yesterday to say “I love you” to my wife.