Poems

Painted Desert

Margaret Wesseling

16 March 2026

ripples of heat embrace

my arms and neck

the distance sends breezes

sun sprays off rock

dry country rolls

spills heat

these striped hills fade

an old etching

too full of light

your presence next to me

your eyes

I can pour into

how you have changed

and I, and still

we know each other, how

our parents’ words come

to mind, beauty, grace,

communion, seem

inadequate

Writer & Writing Teacher

I've been writing and teaching writing for many years. This course grew out of a conviction I keep returning to: that every person has a way of seeing the world that is worth developing and sharing — and that most beginning writers simply haven't yet had the right conditions to discover it.