Category Archives: Arizona
Flood
August sunrise, Sonoran Desert, Southern Arizona
Lonesome little dove,
you flood the desert with song
morning by morning.
Haiku and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Flood”
Flood
Detail of a carpet in a church in Wellton, Arizona
If a mighty flood should come,
Sweeping through the church’s doors,
Carpets would be overwhelmed
As would all the parquet floors.
When the mighty flood subsides,
Just as in the Bible lore,
There will come an olive branch
From the One who makes waves roar.
Photo and poem © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Flood”
Scattered
Broken dinnerware, littering the desert near Yuma, Arizona
Can these scattered shards be repaired?
Photo and text © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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Note
The summer afternoon sky framed by the branches of a dead brittlebush, Sonoran Desert, Southern Arizona
Summer afternoon—
a dove on a barren branch
repeats the same note.
Haiku and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
Kintsugi
Broken dinnerware, littering the desert near Yuma, Arizona
Kintsugi master,
gather up these scattered shards,
and with your lacquer,
glue them together again,
more beautiful than before.
Photo and tanka © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Macro Monday 2
More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Kintsugi: Art of Mending”
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
Snooze
Indigo bush, Sonoran Desert, Southern Arizona
Lizards snooze where shadows are thin.
Text and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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