I have had the fortune of being surrounded by Larrea tridentata in the lower desert elevation of the town of Truth or Consequences. This is an ode to chaparral otherwise known as Larrea tridentata, Creosote Bush or in Spanish communities Hediondilla which means smelly one. I am developing a new relationship with this plant not only as a physical medicine but also as a uncanny muse protrayed here.

Larrea, Mi Hediondilla, Wise Green One of the Desert
Oh Hediondilla, Larrea
Holder of soil of southern desert,
Soothe my cracked lips,
Cool the cracked earth,
Crack open your glands,
To Moisture in the open sky,
Open Heart of Chaparral,
Teach us your lessons,
Of cracked souls, soles, soils
That here in high desert, hot aquifers
spring internal lessons of the lost langorous
hag revived by your yellow blooms and resinous leaves
Rubbing against her leg with the snake rattle bracelet
Awake and focused!

My wise hag hugged me here
In this oppressive
Beautiful stillness
Larrea, I know why they call you
Hediondilla
Your smell can be both
 provocative and revolting
And an Utter relief
Follow a morning Rain

And I run with the coyotes within your
Scraggly branches
My sores are healed by you
And we howl and we claw playfully
Your song rises from the canyons
In an oily mist
There, there mi hijita
Mira la luna, llueve mucho
a veces in el desierto
There, there my daughter
Look at the moon, it rains much
at times in the desert