Desert Poetry By Vivian Stratton
"Return"

Vivian with her Students In the Valley - Age 20
Vivian at home in Fort Rock - Age 100

 

Before the Storm  

For now the wind has ceased his restless song.
His work is done; the massive cloud banks in the sky
Proclaim his power, and presage gifts to come
From that great reservoir of Grace on high.   

Now all is still and quietness pervades the land;
A vibrant hush, pregnant with promise and desire to give
Each blade of dusty grass each  parched and withered shrub
Needed renewal of their will to live.
 
                                                               - Vivian Stratton
 
Desert Memories 

Have you ever stood when dawn was nigh,
On the crest of a hill, 'neath a wide, wide sky
And watched an orange sun climb from a range of blue hills
Filling the world with a color that thrills? 
Have you ever heard, in the hush of night,
A sound that roused you to startled fright
The long-drawn wail of the coyote band
Searching for food o'er the prairie land? 
Have you ever watched with marveling gaze
(When the earth was scorched with the sun's hot rays)
The swift onrush of a black thunderhead
And awaited the storm with both joy and dread? 
Have you ever gazed on a starry night
On a world transformed by magic moonlight
Or tramped down a trail 'tween drifts three feet hig
While the stars fairly snapped in a black velvet sky? 
If you haven't, then come where the west winds call -
Where Nature is queen, demanding homage from all -
Where pleasures consist not of tinsel and toys,
But where hearts are o'erflowing with life's real joys. 
                                                              
                                                         - Vivian Stratton