John Stone
 

The plateau called to me in a silent way, shaking crumbs of desert from an apron of creosote that flowed to massive rock forms. They jealously guarded the lake. This alkaline oasis fairly twitched with fish, and to think Carson and Fremont nearly expired only one dune from bounty. I reveled in the shock they must have felt when two Paiutes sauntered into camp lugging prehistoric trout. . . . How little the soldiers knew!

Carefully, I made my way up the slope to a mesa where Winnimucca's hunters followed the elk, watched the flick of a lizard's tongue, and sang the songs of the Elders.

Ancient stories told
between the shimmering stones
A good day to die

John Stone is a lifelong musician and songwriter, and intimately familiar with the material poverty, and Spiritual wealth that goes with creative writing.

He is unknown, unpublished, and lives in happy obscurity in Northern California.

Copyright 2006: Simply Haiku