Poem of the Week #6

Desert Lands

This truely is a desert.
Abandoned. Deserted. Desolate. Barren.
Its not easy to live, to exist.
Yet despite knowing this, I journey in.
I do not resist.
With cantene depleating
And no thoughts of retreating,
only humbling feelings.
I'm not the explorer I dreamed I'd be.
A fleeting dream of succeeding immediately.
Its hard. Its hard to Be.
The oasis I need is avoiding me.
In some time I'll find one.
Until then I will ration my supplies
and try to last through the desert skies.
The seemingly endless sand.
Cold bitter nights.
Scorching sun and relentless heat.
Though I'm facing defeat,
I cannot retreat,
choosing instead to rise to my feet.
That one day release from this tedious feat will be my prize.

This poem seemed fitting because I am out of a job and looking for a new one. A new job is what brought me to Arizona in the first place and that is what this poem is about. So if you hear of anything, anywhere, in the marketing field or something you think I'd be good at, give me a holler.

I moved to Arizona in January of 2006. I was starting a new life, and a new job; I didn’t know anyone. I went to my ward the first Sunday and was flabbergasted. I got there a few minutes early and chose a seat in the overflow section between the chapel and the gym, right in the middle of the row. Suddenly, they open the accordion door and unveil that the gym is full of chairs as well. People filled the chapel, the overflow, the gym. There were nearly 500 people at church and I didn’t know a soul.

My plan was to be outgoing and the fun new guy. But I was intimidated. They read like 15 names of the new people and I felt lost in a crowd. My plans weren’t as easy as I had uh…planned.

A few weeks of living in Arizona and I scribbled this poem down on the back of a program. It was a tough adjustment. Making new guy friends is especially tough. You wouldn’t think so but it is. I’ll tell you about it later.