Martian Mindscape [Free Verse]

Photograph taken at days end atop Gudibande Fort Hill in Karnataka, India.
The light of day's end
brings out the sandy
grit of the arid
landscape.

The light of day's end
matches & compounds
the color of the
desiccated vegetation.

The light of day's end
turns the world
into someplace new --
somewhere I've never
been before.

My body knows this is
nothing like Mars;
my mind does not.

Desert Rains [Haiku]

a sandy desert
sits under sodden clouds,
soaking up each drip

Mountain Oasis [Haiku]

in pale-brown mountains,
we round a curve to see
a lush oasis