The Desert Rat

I tended to spend
Every waking moment
That I wasn’t at school
Traipsing through
The surrounding desert
And local mountains
There in Las Vegas.
I would set out walking
And go for miles.
I was so conditioned
To desert survival
That I never needed
To take water with me.
I could walk all day long
In 120 degree heat
And suffer no ill effects.
I knew the desert
Like the back of my hand.
I knew the old Indian trails
And watering holes.
I knew where I could find
Chuckwallas and desert turtles,
Scorpions and centipedes.
I knew the all the old mines,
And had explored many
Of their abandoned shafts.
I had climbed
The stark barren rocks
Of Sunrise Mountain
Numerous times
And had encountered
Some of the desert hermits
Who lived amongst
The piles of refuse discarded
At the edge of civilization.
The desert was home to me,
And it was there
That I found peace
And solace for my spirit
As a teenager.