“Desert Solitaire” 

 

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous,
Leading to the most amazing view.
May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.
May your rivers flow without end, meandering through
Pastoral valleys tinkling with bells,
Past temples and castles and poets’ towers
Into a dark primeval forest.

Where tigers belch and monkeys howl,
Through miasmal and mysterious swamps
And down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas, domes and Pinnacles and grottos of endless stone;
And down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm.
Where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, where deer
Walk across the white sand beaches.

Where storms come and go as lightning
Clangs upon the high crags.
Where something strange and more beautiful
And more full of wonder than your
Deepest dreams waits for you —
Beyond that next turning of the canyon walls.

by Edward Abbey

Edward Paul Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989) was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of  public land policies, and anarchist  political views. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by environmental groups, and the non-fiction work Desert Solitaire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Abbey