Arizona six-sixty-six, south in the early light,
Painted desert, streaks of dying night—
Copper-ribboned sands
Empty haunted lands
In the rear-view.
Heading back to the place you gave me,
The past you saved for me,
Where the San Pedro runs
Through cottonwoods
To empty canyons.
I'm going to the glowing heart of the world.
I'm wearing Johnny Ringo's boots
And Kirker's hat,
Got a headache like Mangas Coloradas
Staring out at the Willcox flats.
I'm wandering in the desert
Wishing I were old
Remembering when you were with me
At the glowing heart of the world.
I was a boy when you brought me here,
I looked up at your eyes, but saw no fear.
We waited for the storm to come
So we could smell the rain.
You said, look at this great dry and wrinkled land
Where rivers run, then run to sand —
Here is the glowing heart of the world.
This is the glowing heart of the world.
I'm driving to where I met you,
To the desert where I left you
Memories like bones, white as ash,
Sifting down into sun-bleached sand,
Becoming part
Of the glowing heart
Of the world.
About the Author: Brian Andrew Laird is the author of two mystery novels To Bury the Dead and Bowman’s Line. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.
Cpoyright © 1998 by Brian Andrew Laird. This song lyric may not be reproduced in any form without the author’s express written permission.