HOLLOW SPACE

Phi Kappa Phi Forum, Winter 2005 by Smith, Ronald J

In the desert,

a hollow space hides

the quiet of wild cacti,

who watch for you

behind thistle-bloom

stinging with succulent beauty -

their prickles

tart and crisp

like the invisible aridity,

where you become aware

of the pierce

that bursts your hollow space,

heretofore imperceptible,

that you might, too, discover

the barren heights,

its voiceless face

gully-wrinkled,

drizzled etchings of

a crooked-fingered

rain shaft, flowing with emptiness

to waterless seas,

where sand-whistled miles

of hollow space

rush you out, ·

as distance disappears,

to meet monuments and

pyramids rock-rigid,

who halt you,

then jolt you

skyward.

RONALD J. SMITH

Ron Smith has aviated the globe in his professional life. He brings a spiritual dimension to his writing evoked from these experiences. His poems have recently appeared in the New York Times and The Antarctic Sun. He now works as a military liaison to the National Science Foundation. He resides in Alexandria, Virginia.