The Painted Desert

The Painted Desert

Can wait till summer

We've played this game of just imagine long enough

Wait till summer?

When I'm sure the rains have ended

The blooms have gone

Every one killed by the morning frost

Is a cactus blooming there

In every roadside stand

Where the big deal is cowboy gear

Sewn in Japan?

The Painted Desert

Can wait till summer

We've played this game of just imagine long enough

Wait till summer?

When I'm sure the rains have ended

The blooms have gone

Every one killed by the morning frost

Is a cactus blooming there

Upon the northern rim

Or in the ruins of

The Hopi mesa dens?

You met a new friend in the canyon

(or so you wrote)

On a blanket in the cooling sand

You and your friend agreed that

The stars were so many there

They seemed to overlap

The Painted Desert

Can wait till summer

We've played this game of just imagine long enough

Wait till summer?

When I am sure the rain has ended

The blooms have gone

Every one killed by the morning frost

Was a cactus blooming there

As you watched the native boy?

In a Flagstaff trailer court, you wrote the line

"He kicked a tumbleweed

And his mother called him home

Where the Arizona moon

Met the Arizona sun"

I wanted to be there by May at the latest time

Isn't that the plan we had or have you changed your mind?

I haven't read a word from you since Phoenix or Tucson

April is over, will you tell me how long

Before I can be there?