Hiding in plain sight

The horny toad is a rock

The lizard a stick

The confident crow

Swift sleek and sagacious

Caws from the treetop

The ant and termite

Locked in a mortal struggle

One’s carried away

The gentle Verde

Courses the arid valley

A ribbon of life

The upright fisher

Still, stilted, and ankle-deep

Plucks a passing meal

The stream has no choice

Of channel draft or color

Granted by the land

Shun beguiling time

It depletes the mind and soul

Of everything near