Catch and Release in the Desert

Based on the following prompt: Prompt # 15

NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 15

Travelers, historically, come here for healing,

Regaled by tales of dry nothingness

Cleansed yearly in monsoon rain-

The creosote alone feels like a miracle.

I had 7 years of healing before I caught what ails me now.

The ache moved like a glacier from my heart to my bones,

Dug canyons in my muscles and left sediment in my blood;

Desert healing left me exposed to foreign parasites.

Now I spend my days catching the dead ones,

Digging them out and releasing them to make space

For cured skin and exploration of what’s left. I healed

So that I could suffer, this time, to completion.