The Grand Canyon

From the Painted Desert, head west Past sagebrush, brittle bush, desert scrub And The Petrified Forest at rest To the Rocky Mountains above Go past the Continental Divide Below Douglas firs and pinyon pines Head down the sunset side Where the Colorado River cuts and winds Many generations ago Native Americans were inhabiting squatters There were herds of buffalo Along with now extinct muskrats and river otters Beaver, cut cottonwoods and willows Leopard frogs slept on limestone pillows Mule deer and bighorn sheep Climbed up and down walls so steep Follow me down the foot trail Like indigenous butterflies with swallowtails In to the Valley of the Sun Where Hopi civilization begun Tassel eared squirrels frolic about Bald eagles fly over and scout Stream orchids, honey mesquite and arrow weeds For pocket mice and other rodent species Gray fox, weasels, bobcats Spotted skunks, ring tails, and bats Call this canyon their home Where bark scorpions and rattlesnakes roam While gila monsters and red spotted toads Search for midges, flies and black widows It took this river millions of years To make this home for all who are here an original poem by the "poemdog" Daniel Turner