Miracle Rescue from Camelback Mountain

by Douglas J. Lanzo
Copyright 2021

First published in the 2021 Summer Issue of WestWard Quarterly: The Magazine of Family Reading

The rich red sandstone and granite rock did paint the desert sky with purpose, 
raw and roughhewn beauty forging a  twin-peaked silhouette,
reminiscent of a Bactrian camel brought to its knees by the searing furnace,
of  fierce, dry Phoenix heat radiating up the slopes of this scorching minaret;

My brother had just stepped over a rock when a rattling noise did pierce the air;
He must have awakened the diamondback rattlesnake from its hidden lair,
Only through God’s hand did this venomous pit viper not find me near,
With deliberate stride I continued my descent until Chad cried in terror,

“Run!”  as the rattling intensified, alerting other rattlers to perceived danger,
I scraped my leg on rock accelerating away from loud rattling and hissing,
the knot in my stomach tightening as our predicament grew stranger,
thinking: “How would my two-year twins fare if their father went missing?”

Speeding down the mountain we veered dangerously off-trail,
lost and frightened, we entreated God to show us the way,
and in a miraculous turn of events, He soon did unveil,
a safe descent to Camelback’s base, averting a tragic day;

Rescued by an experienced local hiker inexplicably off track,
enabling him to spot our location and expertly lead us down,
navigating challenging terrain through a maze of trails back,
we recognized God’s hand in our return unharmed to town.