by Kate Lassman
Poetry Book
35pp
published by New Bay Books
 
The canyon lands of southern Utah and Colorado are poet Kate Lassman's holy place. She traveled there with her park ranger husband in 2012, and again in 2023, for a journey both physical and spiritual: 17 days of driving and hiking in the famous parks: Rocky Mountain and Canyonlands National Parks, Colorado National Monument, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Arches National Parks, Natural Bridges National Monument, and Kodachrome Basin State Park. The landscapes of those extraordinary sites, the vivid colors of both the majestic rock formations and the sky, the persevering life that thrives in the supposedly empty desert, and the profound quiet that fills the light, dry air filled her with a peaceful sense of timelessness perfect for contemplation, meditation, or prayer.
       Both trips took place during  annular eclipses, which means the moon would cover the sun almost completely, except for a thin "ring of fire" around the sun's circumference. She watched the 2012 eclipse from the rim of Bryce Canyon at Sunset Point, and the 2023 eclipse from near Chimney Rock at Kodachrome Basin State Park. The dimming light as totality approached was eerily striking. At the moment of totality came a gilded royal blue twilight with the eclipsed sun looking ethereal and surreal. Then the light slowly returned, and the world continued. 
       How to Cross the Desert is the story of Lassman's desert journey in poetry. Some of the poems came quickly, like "Along Weeping Rock Trail" and "Arch Walker"; others took time and multiple revisions. Among those are "Fire at Bryce Canyon" and "Strata." They contain questions about life that she didn't realize she had brought with her to the canyon lands, and the epiphanies she found there-which are different from answers, which she did not find. 
       Journeys are about seeking, discovering, and learning. In this book she shares her journey with you because she became so enchanted with the canyon lands, and because she hopes the epiphanies she returned with might be of value to you in your journey.