Grand Canyon Red - Benjamin Moore - 2090-10

By Juliana Arosemena

Grand Canyon Red,

Spreading out for miles and miles,

Thy creases and cracks

A billion years old,

Are wise and sore

Like the old man’s soul.

The sun begins to set

And thy colors turn

Orange, gold, and red.

Such majesty,

Such grace,

Such knowledge buried

Under thy layers,

Each one a billion years older

Than the other.

Thy Colorado frets

Upon thy walls,

Yet thou remain unscathed,

And it is I who returns wounded

Once again to the warmth of thy soul.

Thou give me comfort,

Thou give me peace,

Thou seem to be the shining sun

After the constant storm

Within our souls.

Thou crack open

Arizona into two, and

Everyday both ends pull further apart.

Thy caverns, caves, and cuts

All match the patterns of my heart.

The little Condors break their wings apart

Trying to fly from one end to another.

When once the Colorado

Streamed vividly through thou,

Full of life and peace

Were all of us.

Now its absence has left wounds;

And it is only from the Hermit’s Rest

That we can see

What seems to be a trickle of it left.

For we must go deep

Before we actually realize its presence

Is still there.

Grand Canyon Red,

I miss thy warmth,

Thy comfort,

Thy peace,

Thou entirely.

I want to press my ear

Against thy surface,

Feel thy warm heartbeat across the soil,

Hear the silence—peaceful

Silence in the stress-less air—

I want thou back.

Grand Canyon Red,

We need thou more than ever,

For we’ve split further apart,

With a crack bigger than yourself.

Only you can quiet down

Such thunder,

Such clash that has gone out of hand.

Grand Canyon Red,

We need thou back.

For more color collective poems click here.