Condor

Standing on Navajo Bridge

I see two condors

on the cliff face they look small

great wings tucked and resting

Colorado River moves below

takes rafters through the Grand Canyon

hoping to see a condor

maybe a peregrine falcon

Our guide tells of the time

high on the rock ledge

temperatures so hot

fledglings died in their nest

Still I want to see a condor take flight

I want to watch it soar

_______________________

Nesting condors have been observed at Zion National Park and I am hoping that global warming doesn’t push them out of their nests too early. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9814501/amp/Two-critically-endangered-California-condors-spotted-near-Zion-National-Park.html

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Devils Lake

• 

Dakotas spoke it as mni wak’an

mni (water)

wak’an (pure source or sacred)

there was no concept of devil

til white man saw it as bad spirit

water that was undrinkable

created mirages like spirits

over the waters

marked it on the map

Devils Lake

______________

Traveling in North Dakota, I camped at this lake.

Where I Am

• 

I am traveling through the Ozarks as I have a number of times, same highway, same destination. This time is different. The dogwood trees are in bloom, their flowers making thickets of white in a low canopy among tall oaks.

Where I am, surrounded by Ozark Mountains, the sun is setting and now the quiet water of the Lake of the Ozarks reflects the moon.

Spring in the mountains

flowers of many colors

open up to me

_____________

dVerse prompt for a haibun in a state of now

Road Trip

Destination takes us winding through hills and valley into the lake area. This is the time of camping, outdoor cooking, fish grilling, forget about what you wear while you smoke an old stoogie by the campfire (not me but the guy across the way).

Each day will see a new state— starting with Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Idaho, and finally Washington. Beautiful country this USA.

flatland and mountain

from going down to rising

sleep is deep in dreams

On Carmel Point

To My Dear Robinson Jeffers,

When the fog rolls and the horn sounds

I will think of the stones you carried

up the hill on Carmel Point

to set a foundation for Tor House

You kept going higher and higher

until you met the hawk

the world expanding around you

your small window with a view of the Pacific

I want life and death to come as naturally

I want to thank you for placing stone

upon stone in such a way it formed

narrow pathway to the highest point

__________________________________________

Yes, my dear,

“Against the outcrop boulders of a

raised beach

We built our house when I and my

love were young.

Here long ago . . .

. . . all that we saw or heard

was beautiful.” Robinson Jeffers

___________________

NaPoWriMo prompt on letter to a favorite historical figure and response by that person. One of my favorite poets. I visited his house and Tor House in Carmel one day while road tripping. Original take on this experience written in 2016.

Travelling in the Wilderness

takes preparation

(is it still the wilderness if you are prepared)

make sure you have water

(do not waste it on frivolous things like bathing)

foods that can keep without refrigeration

(dried foods give me gas……. make me fart)

a dry place to sleep in case of rain

(wet gear is not fun)

4-wheel drive and good clearance underneath

(travel can lead off road and become no road)

a full tank of gas

(walking to find gas in a wild place can be deadly)

know your directions and landmarks

(being lost in the wild is the worst)

enjoy the wilderness experience

(promise to return)

______________

dVerse prompt to use a given line from Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie and make that line the title of your poem. My choice was travelling in the wilderness.

Jesus & the People

Jesus no longer walked among the people

Hé & His disciples went to Ephraim

a city near the wilderness

it was 6 days before the Passover

& people were wondering

would Jesus come to Jerusalem

His following was building

He had raised Lazarus

from the dead

& the priests & Pharisees

wanted to kill Lazarus as well as Jesus

_______________________

I’m in the middle of a 40 day series on Jesus going from Caesarea Philippi to His ascension.

On the Road to Capernum

After Jesus healed the epileptic boy

He & the disciples

traveled through Galilee

going back to Capernum

but on a different road

& when they were settled

in a house there

Jesus asked them what they

had been arguing about

& since they had been

proclaiming which of them

was the greatest

they were embarrassed

& were afraid to ask Him

what it meant that He would die

& be raised in three days

which He had spoken of on the road

because He wanted them to know

what would happen

in Jerusalem

Caesarea Philippi

Start in Caesarea Philippi

twenty mile walk from Capernum

take the Roman road

to the Greek god Pan

beautiful site

at the foot of Mt Hermon

source of the Jordan River

the Cave of Pan

enshrined

where Jesus told his disciples

that he would die

& live again

Who do you say I am?

& Peter exclaimed

Son of the living God!

& with this revelation

the church was built

here on the crags

of Caesarea Philippi

Travelling to North Rim

Travelling with the storm perched over the canyon we head to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon both going there the storm moving faster along the rim while we drive over the plateau happy to be dry in these moments arriving at the campground everything is wet but the storm has passed the sky clears revealing the colors of layers of chiseled rock lit by the setting sun

Two years later I travel that same road there is no storm but snow is on the ground where the Cat Fire burned last summer we watched it burning from deep in the canyon hotshot fire fighters called in helicopters fly in and out delivering their load plumes of smoke rise over the Kaibab Forest we float safe on the water of the Colorado River and smell the air from 8,200 feet above now the snow covered ground hides the char of the Cat Fire black surrounds the base of these ponderosa pines others are burned completely pinyon junipers pine needles scrub brush 4500 acres burnt from a lightning strike