Napo #4

Today's prompt was to write an enigma poem. I decided to describe a PLACE without saying where exactly it is. Here, I'm describing Sal del Rey, the salt lake here. I remember visiting it a few years ago. It's an eerie sort of place. In my poem, I'd like to work the idea of Lot's wife in a little more. I kind of allude to her at the end, though I'd like to draw more parallels throughout.

Anyway, here it is!

Salt

Centuries ago they came for the salt,

Mined this place but not to death.

Today, it sits alone in the middle of the monte,

Crowned by a thicket of mesquite

That wants to keep this place its secret.

If you come,

A snake will glide across your path.

An omen. Let your curiosity be greater

Than your fear. Let it lead you

Into a different kind of Eden –

A landscape where even the muck gleams

Underneath a covering like ice

In the middle of South Texas summer,

A layer like a glaze of sugar

on pan dulce ready to be licked clean.

Here, the birds take refuge.

Here, the javalinas come

And leave their hoofprints

In the mud. Here, listen

To the chacalacas coo

And rustle with your coming.

Walk towards the lake.

Hear the crack of crystal

Underneath your bare feet.

Let water swallow your toes.

Let salt sink into your skin.

Let it crack your lips.

Let it crystalline your flesh

So you glimmer underneath

The heavy-handed sun.