Category Archives: Anza-Borrego Desert
Blue Monday: Tattered Garment
Immigrants crossing illegally into the U.S. from Mexico often abandon clothing in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Southern California
Someone left a garment,
Left in the sand,
As she fled to safety
In a foreign land.
The garment’s torn and tattered,
And faded by the sun,
Yet bears the haunting beauty
Of someone on the run.
Poem and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
From the ashes
Ocotillo blossoms during the spring 2017 “super bloom,” Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Southern California
Although these blooms are lovely,
They will not come again;
Blasted by the desert heat,
They vanished with the wind.
Yet I believe the promise
That beauty will arise
From the ashes of these blooms
To grace the desert skies.
Poem and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Flowers”
Take a word or two
Beavertail cactus blossom, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Southern California
Take a word or two—
mingle, calendar, or burning will do.
Splash them on a page,
or hang them with rope
from a branch
like lumps of suet
to feed the hungry jays.
All words woven by your hands
become poems, my daughter,
and yours will be the first weaving
to awaken daffodils
from their winter sleep.
Even the jays
will be amazed.
Poem and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Macro Monday 2
More Sunday’s Whirligig #109
More Poetry Pantry #351 at Poets United
More Macro Monday 2
More Sunday’s Whirligig #109
More Poetry Pantry #351 at Poets United
Song
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Southern California
They tell the story
of how, on distant mountains,
one dove left her song.
Haiku and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
Flaunting
Barrel cactus, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Southern California, March 2017
On the mountain path
a cactus flaunts its blossoms
for a day or two.
Haiku and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
Glimpses
Strawberry cactus, (Mammillaria dioica), Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Southern California, February 2017
~~ 1 ~~
naked figurines
their alabaster bellies
shining in the light
~~ 2 ~~
somewhere in the ’hood—
poems kicked to the gutter
begging for mercy
~~ 3 ~~
at the hoarder’s house—
lockets stuffed with old photos
too many to count
~~ 4 ~~
a bloated old man
bathed by his daughter at noon
then tucked into bed
~~ 5 ~~
ambling down the street
with a basket on her arm—
market day again
~~ 6 ~~
The way the moon leans
into the battered dumpster,
you’d think it was drunk.
Haiku © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Macro Monday 2
More Sunday’s Whirligig #100
More Poetry Pantry #342 at Poets United
Broken
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Southern California
In broken shadows, many secrets lie.
Text and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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More Sunday Scribblings 2: “Broken”
Caw
Barrel cactus made plump by winter rains in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Southern California
On the sharpest spine
of an old barrel cactus
a crow leaves its caw.
Haiku and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
No One
Some of the first blossoms of 2017: sand verbena in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Southern California
No one’s looking back with longing
For the chilly winter day,
When no flowers graced the hillsides,
And the sky was only grey.
No one thinks with fond remembrance
Of the barren hills and slopes
Now that spring has come with blossoms
To renew our dreams and hopes.
Poem and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Nostalgia”
Guide
Mid-December rainbow, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Southern California
last autumn rainbow
guiding my stumbling steps home—
wind shifts to the east
Haiku and photo © 2016 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
