Two Desert Poems by Stephen Crane

I walked in a desert

 

I walked in a desert. 
And I cried, 
"Ah, God, take me from this place!" 
A voice said, "It is no desert." 
I cried, "Well, But -- 
The sand, the heat, the vacant horizon." 
A voice said, "It is no desert." 

 

In the desert

 

In the desert 

I saw a creature, naked, bestial, 

Who, squatting upon the ground, 

Held his heart in his hands, 

And ate of it. 

I said, “Is it good, friend?” 

“It is bitter—bitter,” he answered; 

 

“But I like it 

“Because it is bitter, 

“And because it...