Slipping Over the Edge

Quietly slip over the edge Disappear without a trace. Follow the old trails. The canyon trails are worn smooth by bare feet or reed sandals. Centuries-old hand-holds are still there. Trails wind down to hidden pools. Deep shade is cool below the canyon rim. Hot sunlight is a stranger down here. The breeze builds toward...

People of the Dust

Dust devils rise up in a swirl of wind and dance, willy-nilly, across the desert. A jackrabbit takes cover. The quail find their refuge beneath the saltbush. The rift, miles deep, opened in the earth’s crust thirty-five million years ago. It was witnessed by car-sized armadillos, camels, and mastodons - now all turned to dust....

The Shadowed Wall

What lives were once protected behind these shadowed walls? What joys were shared and hopes declared and private pains endured? What voices spoke to say a prayer or comfort childhood fears? What buttons sewed? What wondrous weavings wove? What feasts enjoyed? What cheerful toasts proposed? What missing friends or long-lost parents mourned? Like brushstrokes on canvas, these past lives paint shadowed lines on old...

Stone Upon Stone, Soul Upon Soul

For good or for ill, they left their mark. Rich in their vow of poverty; at least by local standards. They had their cigars and their chocolate. They had their music and their books. They had their Faith. They had untold riches in willing backs and upturned faces. Stone on stone. Wooden crosses. Beams and...

Autumn Wind

Howling, relentless wind - roaring in from the north penetrates my bones. Where is it going? It's in a hurry and wants to take me along. Dust flies in the air obscuring the mountain views. The world turns dull gray. Like a steeplechase, Tumbleweeds race each other to some finish line. Quail crouch in the...

A Place Beyond

There are places beyond the usual limits of space and time. We go there – when the time is right to see what is mostly unseen. This is not a different world or universe. You simply have to hop the fence. Step lively if you want to catch the fleeting moment. It is worth the...

Desert Souls

They have souls, you know. The trees, the birds, the mountains... they have living souls. We used to know that. We just became deaf and blind or just looked away. Bigger fish to fry - We put them on balance sheets -- Costs and benefits. Trees come and trees go, they're "renewable" they say --...

Cow Camp Poetry

(Upon the occasion of a visit to an old cow camp.) These last few years I’ve grown right fond of Cowboy poetry. It’s sometimes rude and often crude but it brings a smile to me. These guys would live far from a town and tell a tale or two of chasin’ cows and birthin’ calves...

Memories of Guadalupe

Am I haunted by an old place or just by forgotten spirits? Guadalupe sits in the hot sun by the edge of the river. La Senora Guadalupe: Wind, cold, sand, sun and rain have sucked the town dry leaving only a fading husk. A wandering poet with a camera is sometimes a dangerous thing. We...