Watching the desert

The sands of the desert are calm and quiet.  
A snake makes himself into a pen  
and draws the longest letter I have ever seen.

The lizards push against the rocks  
up and down, up and down --  
inmates of Hell's own fitness spa.

The gila monster is still where I last saw him.  
And above it all, the cactus, centuries old --  
  Old Man of the Desert --  
yet an infant of the sands and rock.

And me, with my pen.  
What can I say?  
I am always thirsty.