I Love to Walk a Dirt Road in the West

by Michelle Miller

I love to walk a dirt road in the west—
To feel like a speck in the vast world of grass and sky.
I walk and raise my arms.
It is faith to know that
I am seen.

I love to walk a dirt road—
To feel the red clay in my toes,
To feel the sand blow me in the wind.
I like stones.
I like to set a stone to the sun and see the light in it.
I like to take them home.

I love to walk—
To let my legs move as they should and not to tell them.
I like to walk with my eyes closed,
For a short time,
To try to see the road
And press the line of sky to my mind.
But I like to walk and see most of the time.
I say I walk by faith.
And days go by,
That I think I walk by sight.
I close my eyes now.
It is faith to know He walks with me.

I love the west, the road, the walk.
But I miss the trees of the east and its springs in the hills
And the rocks in the sun pressed to the sky
And the stones in their shade.

I love to walk a dirt road in the west.
I want to stay.
I want to say,
“Let there be light here too,”
And call it good.
I want to say,
“Make this a home,”
And call it mine.
I will not walk this road in vain.
It is faith to know that
This is good.
I love to walk a dirt road in the west.

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Michelle Miller lives in a little house on East 6th where she propagates plants, writes letters, and makes biryani for Seth.

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Photography by Kenneth Godoy