"...held again in wonder at the effort to which men will go to be near their gods." Or to escape their devils... ZW
It's not unusual for writers to have recurring themes... The desert is what she knows (it would seem) and she writes it very well.
Interesting point. I thought there needed to be some justification why light would be thrown back, or at the least, something to mediate the abruptness between catching it and throwing it. I also kinda liked that little gurgle in the line lengths, for some reason.