Category Archives: Ajo
Blue Monday: Rocket Ship
Mural in Artists Alley, Ajo, Arizona
My rocket ship is blasting off—
Won’t you come with me?
We’ll sail a million miles or more
Through a starry sea,
Where deep within the Milky Way
Weird fish blink and gleam,
And fishers tell the strangest tales
As they wait and dream.
Photo and poem © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
Advertisements
Scolding
Rugged mountains near Ajo, Arizona
Crow on the mountain,
don’t you ever grow weary
of scolding the stones?
Haiku and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Nature: Her Words”
Writing letters
Detail from a mural in Artists Alley, Ajo, Arizona
I would work harder
at writing letters
if I thought someone
would open the envelope.
There’s something satisfying
about going to my desk,
sweeping aside the rejection slips
from my latest failed poem,
and writing to friends,
a different one each day.
Despite my devotion
to penning words on paper,
few friends reply,
and I have to remind myself
that letter writing
is about to pass away
into that realm where
rotary dial telephones,
carbon paper, and chalkboards
are of blessed memory.
Poem and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Sunday’s Whirligig #123
More Poetry Pantry #365 at Poets United
More Sunday’s Whirligig #123
More Poetry Pantry #365 at Poets United
Lucky
Detail from a mosaic on a community wall, Ajo, Arizona
We’re a lucky family.
We crossed the border at night,
escaping dogs and guns
and human traffickers,
to find a refuge with friends.
But our neighbor Juana,
who crossed only one night later?
We hear she’s in El Paso,
working as a maid in a hotel
that rents rooms by the hour.
But “maid” is just another word for “slave,”
and Juana owes her soul and body
to the man who rescued her
from the border patrol.
She’ll be lucky
to leave that motel alive.
But what can we do?
We have no papers,
and if they find us here,
they will send us back.
We can only pray for Juana,
hoping that someday she can join us
in this little desert town,
where no one bothers us,
and no one challenges our right to be.
Poem and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Human Trafficking”
More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Human Trafficking”
Blue Monday: Woman
Detail from a mural in Artists Alley, Ajo, Arizona
A woman with eyes big and brown
Decided she’d go into town.
She bought a new hat,
And milk for her cat,
And, at the last minute, a gown.
Photo and limerick © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
Laughter
A mural in Artists Alley, Ajo, Arizona
Listen to girls laugh—
no two are alike.
One’s laughter is sweet,
the other’s rings of deceit.
The best laughter
(think of someone you know)
surprises you
like hair falling
across your eyes
just as the blackbird
lifts off to fly
and all you can see
is a wingtip
and then it is gone.
Yet of life’s ten thousand joys
this is only one.
Poem and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Sunday’s Whirligig #122
More Poetry Pantry #364 at Poets United
More Sunday’s Whirligig #122
More Poetry Pantry #364 at Poets United
Crow
Ajo, Arizona
Summer afternoon—
a crow in the tallest palm
jeers at passersby.
Haiku and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
Refuge
A pile of stones near Ajo, Arizona
summer afternoon—
some stones provide a refuge
for frightened lizards
Haiku and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
Blue Monday: Angel
Section of a mural in Artists Alley, Ajo, Arizona
Photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
Storm
Storm clouds gather near Ajo, Arizona
Little cactus wren,
will your nest be torn to shreds
by the coming storm?
Haiku and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
