Dinosaur Footprints

Poem by Andre F. Peltier

If you enjoy this feature and would like to see more, let me know with a comment, 💌 share, ♥️ like, or better yet, a 🔄 restack!

You can purchase Written Tales Magazine in print or digital, or become a paid subscriber and download your favorite editions. To view our upcoming stories & poems, please visit our publishing schedule calendar.

---

Aqua-marine spray paint
on weathered ply-wood:
“DINOSAUR FOOTPRINTS, NEXT LEFT.”
Not knowing what to expect,
we signaled, pulled into the gravel lot,
and stepped out to the blast furnace
of June in northern Arizona.
Under an awning,
folding tables filled
with turquoise rings,
necklaces, bracelets, all for sale.
Local mothers keeping
food on the table
and love in their hearts:
 
“You guys want a tour?”
a young woman asked.
There was a crumpled five
in my pocket,
I handed it to her, and we set out
across hardened Jurassic mud.
“Here, dilophosaurus,
they probably didn’t actually spit venom
like in the movie,
and there, our state dinosaur, sonorasaurus.
You can tell its giant gate
by measuring one print to the next.”
As we walked back in time,
200 million years to when
that shallow sea covered the Moenkopi flats,
as we stepped back in time to witness
the pinnacle of 19th Century
Navajo freedom,
we sipped our bottled water
and munched week-old trail mix
from out our shiny new REI backpack.
 
“And here,” she said,
spilling her water at our feet
to highlight the indentations,
“you’re standing in the print of a T. Rex.”
70 million years of wind, rain, erosion,
and there we stood.
We thanked her, wished her luck,
and headed out.
We had to make Kayenta
for those 1:00 PM fry bread tacos
and our lunch date at
a laundromat.

---

Andre F. Peltier (he/him) is a Pushcart and two time Best of the Net nominated poet and a Lecturer III at Eastern Michigan University. His poetry has recently appeared in various publications both online and in print. His poetry collections Poplandia and Ambassador Bridge are available from Alien Buddha Press.