You Can’t Stop a Tumbleweed
by Jennifer Shneiderman
Photography by Larry Everitt
A whirling wild wanderer
carried by howling wind
a scattered whisper voice
seeking purchase
then freed again.
You can’t stop a tumbleweed.
A thistle skeleton
dancing with dirt devils
a windwitch casting spells
entrancing cactus flowers
intoxicating the stars.
You can’t stop a tumbleweed.
A blizzard of bouncing prickly burrs
stopping a snaking road
humans and their machines surrender
to a desolate desert night for
the savage wind must die first.
You can’t stop a tumbleweed.
Jennifer Shneiderman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker living in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in many publications, including: Yale University’s The Perch, The Rubbertop Review, Anti-Heroin Chic, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Minnow Literary Magazine. She received an Honorable Mention in the Laura Riding Jackson 2020 Poetry Competition.
Larry's first trip to the Big Bend area was in 1981, and as is common, he fell instantly in love. An avid 4WD and ATV enthusiast, he broke in new vehicles on the roads of Big Bend NP and Terlingua Ranch. Since 2002, he has been a TR property owner, and built his current ranch house in 2013. Semi-retired from a 36-year career as a signs and graphics business owner, photography, digital art, and abstract painting have been his pastimes of choice. Larry and his wife Sue split their time between their small ranches in Terlingua and rural North Texas near Stephenville.
