Explore "I Heard the Desert Calling" by Gilbert Parker on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
I heard the desert calling, and my heart stood still -- / There was winter in my world and in my heart; / A breath came from the mesa, and a message stirred my will, / And my soul and I arose up to depart.
I heard the desert calling, and I knew that over there / In an olive-sheltered garden where the mesquite grows, / Was a woman of the sunrise with the star-shine in her hair / And a beauty that the almond-blossom blows.
In the night-time when the ghost-trees glimmered in the moon, / Where the mesa by the water-course was spanned, / Her loveliness enwrapped me like the blessedness of June, / And all my life was thrilling in her hand.
I hear the desert calling, and my heart stands still -- / There is summer in my world, and in my heart; / A breath comes from the mesa, and a will beyond my will / Binds my footsteps as I rise up to depart.