Sky Island

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saguaros 
guardians of the sonora
a battalion wafting 
in one hundred degree heat 
standing sentry on granite slopes
vertical green etches
in carmel cliffs
literally--litter the foothills

rising up the mountain 
saguaros fall away

ocotillos remain
their leafy tentacles flailing
like upside down tarantulas
dotting the crevices and shelves
along with mexican oak

climbing higher
ocotillo give way 
to arizona cypress, alligator juniper,
and too many nondeciduous oaks to name
desert? what desert?
temperature's dropped to sixty four

at six thousand feet 
aspen and maple emerge
a little further
along come all the conifers
tall dark forests of
douglas fir and ponderosa pine

nearing the summit there's...
snow? not snow. in august?
no, not snow. really?

nine thousand feet
corkbark fir and a
couple of spruce
it's now a cool
fifty two

town on top 
we stop
baby needs hoody
and hot chocolate

grandpa needs 
to fathom it all
fifty miles, 
six thousand five hundred feet
below
it's one hundred and three


sky island
not overrated

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Jenna Logan

Date: 8/17/2022 7:06:00 AM

"Literally litter the foothills." I always appreciate learning about places I've never visited, so thanks for this one, Steven. Great photos, and I'm sure good memories for you and that little cutie.

Steven Young
Date: 8/17/2022 8:18:00 AM

Thank you, Jenna. Been visiting daughter in Tucson and babysitting the little cutie. So, yeah, this little excursion to Mt. Lemon is one for the memory book. If you're ever this way, drive up Mt. Lemon--it's amazing. Also, hit Tombstone and Bisbee (my neck of the woods). Southern Arizona has some special charm.