Everything is dead or dying, My brother tells me. There is
nothing alive and green.
I run to the window and show him
a beauty like none elsewhere but here.
Look, I tell him pointing, the bushes are
boldly green. Wild do they grow,
and so carefree. Can't you see, brother?
Even the desert can be green.
Green it may be, he says, but alive it is not.
See how the center is brown and gone?
That is not alive. That is gone.

A lizard races across the window.
Look, brother, I cry aloud. A lizard alive and
running across our window! Surely this is proof
that the desert is alive! No, he says. Look
at its color. See how it is brown and dull? It is to hide amongst the carcasses to catch
the bugs and insects it feeds on. That is not
alive. That is to survive.

Then a hint of life. An orange flower
catches my eye. A field of poppies
and desert plants blooming into life. And above them,
a sun partially hidden by clouds - signs of rain tonight!
Brother, wait! I plea with him. Give me one more
chance. Let me show you again! Look over there!
The desert alive! There is red; there is yellow; there
is orange and blue. And, more importantly, there
is green there too! And no plant dying or dead
could produce such beauty as those
poppies, those agaves, those barrels and pears.
And look, brother! The key to it all! Rain clouds
floating, ready to let go! Surely brother,
surely now you cannot say what you said before.

He looks at the beauty. He takes it all in.
And finally a smile tells me it's my win.
You are right brother, he says eventually.
The desert is alive when you wait patiently.
There is red and yellow, orange and blue.
And there is green, the most important one too.
And you are right to say there is no plant in decay
with a flower as beautiful as these. Brother,
this is your win today. Spring in a desert
is truly something real - here to stay.