Images of Transformation:Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s “ To the Desert”

Images of Transformation:

Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s “ To the Desert”


Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s poem, “To the Desert” uses the image of the desert to represent God and his personal journey of surrender. The opening line “I came to you one rainless August night” captures the desolate stillness, darkness, openness to the universe and loneliness that is required for this journey inward to find God. “To the Desert” personifies the sacrifice needed to obtain the ultimate surrender, which requires a personal journey through the dark night of the soul. “You taught me how to live without the rain.” is a symbolic description of how the author needs to give up his personnel needs in order to reach divinity. He acknowledges his unification with this divine force in the third line, “You are thirst and thirst is all I know.” He becomes enmeshed using this symbolic term.
The forth line, “You are sand, ...