Nine thousand years ago
    your playa lakes dried up,
    the pinon and juniper trees on your rocky hills
    withered away,
    and your beach sand became home to
    brine shrimp.
    In suspended sleep they yet dream,
    remembering
    when tulie stems sprang up like green grasshoppers,
    the day's turquoise blue sky still dawned
    friendly and cool,
    and ducks chattered nearby in marshy coves,
    debating whether newcomer man
    might yet become
    a good neighbor.