Long way from Alice Springs

The red earth
like baked blood
glowing behind her

her hands
shield eyes
saluting the sun
as it drops
flaming
in moments
hemispheric
kissing the rock
then rousing
the cliffs of Dover
and home
i suggest

maybe
she shrugs
nonchalant

later
under swaggered stars
the land buzzes
with crawling bugs
of outback night
a demented radio
scratching skin
two hundred miles
from Alice Springs
deafening us
to touch
for the first time

in a long time