First Couple Vacation

by Cheryl Merrick
Apprehensive about leaving
the security of home,
but eager for new sights,
we begin down the road.

Enjoying quiet talks as we ramble
through cactus filled desert, 
we spend five days together,
but never one moment alone.

With our trailer growing ever smaller,
we share adventures,
till finally,
we are home safe again. 

Trip Ambiance

by Cheryl Merrick

Desert stretching to the horizon
Metro areas engulfing the land

Helpful, good people guiding us
Hardened, hopeless workers surviving

Elegant mountainside mansions
Rundown inner city houses

The quiet stillness of the saguaro desert
The frantic rushing of Phoenix, and Tucson

A Red Christmas

by Cheryl Merrick

Trading snow for red sand,
shoveling the walk for hiking trails,
heavy coats for bright sweaters,
snow boots for hiking boots,
and putting lights on palm instead of pine trees,
my traditional White Christmas
has morphed into a rousing Red Christmas.*

*Christmas in the desert

Desert Adjustment

by Cheryl Merrick

Seeing miles and miles of desert landscape
stretching out desolately before me,
I cringed.

Could I be happy here?
With a heart longing for 
refreshing green canyons,
cool rushing water,
and towering trees arching overhead,
I began my new life in the desert.

Now a year later,
my eyes are soothed 
by the many greens of the desert shrubs,
and my heart gladdened by the exquisite beauty
of even the tiniest desert flower.