Part Two
Sedona:The World’s Largest Rock Garden

Sedona is part
old folk’s retirement home
Wildwood NJ boardwalk
New Hope/new age
podunk USA

Plunked down

In the middle of
the most goddamn exquisite
red rock garden
In the world    

                                                       

It is a town divided
By locals
and tourist.

“Slow-dona”
(as the locals call it)
Featured in countless
Westerns and films
Where “The Duke”                                                                                             

 made his mark*
Now filled with
casual
yoga pants
t shirts
hoodies
Nava-faux**
It is not a fashion town.
                                                                         
Sedona is
spiritual
and energy                                                                                           

Vortexes
(I was hoping to get sucked up into one
But only felt
My hands tingle-                                                                 

may have been my circulation problems)
 

Carved into
oxidized

 rusty
dusty
red rock
Layers upon layers
years upon years
Formations
with names like
Snoopy
Queen Victoria on her Throne
Bell Rock
Formations
that rise and fall
shift and change
Colors that reflect
 sun                       

moon

clouds
shadows                                                                     
seasons

Alive with                                                                                     

light
flora
fauna

“Don’t bust the crust”**
Guides my hiking.
Oxidized
rusty
red
dust
Clings
To my black hiking boots.
My souvenir.

*It is legend that John Wayne carved “The Duke” on red rock throughout Sedona

**Nava-faux: excess of silver and turquoise jewelry, often combined with cowboy boots and braids, stylized commercial graphics designed to imitate petroglyphs

***hiking reminders posted throughout trails to minimize disrupting cryptobiotic soils