Long Mesquite Poems

As the life of the day nears its last breath,
With a glow of crimson, forewarning its death,
Upon its cresting, the reflection, daunting,
The sea sets free a beauty, haunting
The depths of its treasures of unknown span,
The...

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The People's Coop
is a warm inviting place,
for some
a reading and meditation
and arts practice and performance space,
for others
a place to ride sleek bicycles
with self-and-other improvement book racks
while peddling energy into the cooperative Grid,
sheltered by solar panel...

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Misshapen limbs of the Palo Verde trees add an artistic touch to the landscape. While 
Honeysuckle twine about the old rail fence and the spiny Ocotillo flash scarlet plumes. 

Mesquite trees, older than the homestead,...

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“Each man follows his own trail, but he rides it all alone,”
Was what Free Will always said when he turned his horse toward home.
But none of us knew it then, just how true those words...

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At six o’clock the road turned bare
as we rode through Tennessee.
From Nashville to Memphis is a long,
dark stretch of gray and brown trees
and fields where no one ever walks or works.
I’ve often wondered who owns...

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I glanced in the side view mirror of the U-Haul truck.  One mile forward, one more, and then another.  With each mile forward everything familiar slipped further and further away.  The lush,...

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The fire burned warm and brightly,
    As the little band of wagons were gathered close and their animals were 
tethered tightly.
The ladies sat about preparing meals for the coming day,
  ...

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Traveling through the doorway in my heart
I emerge
Gently closing it
I place my palms on the worn hinges of time
I lay my ear near its surface
As I let my lips hover close
Grazing the wood with a...

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By Letra Compas
and
Armonia Escala

It sequence lacked luster
she found it more interesting
to exaggerate the middle
to make a more engaging plot
to detail the characters intent
making antiques of the neauce
and eldering the nuance
it creates the kind of characters
that...

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Although I hardly gave it a thought
I didn't really doubt
our miniature juniper, a bonsai,
would survive our desert vacation.
                 ...

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“The Homestead”



In my dreams
I still see the house – 
The old country place
Nestled among the Mesquite trees
That whispered a welcoming chant.

The grandmother stands bent over
A cabinet rolling out dough for oversized biscuits
While bacon sizzles on...

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I said, “Don't fall in love,” the day we met;
“I travel light upon the open road.
My scruff and scrawl has long ago been set,
don't somehow have the dream that I have changed.”

It's clear that you...

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Satan over the years has been known for tricks and deception
Not only covering up what he is doing, but what he has done
One has to give him credit as he is very successful, but beware
He...

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The Hill Country is dry and you can forget about California
Filled with dying live oak and mesquite
There’s a seven-year drought upon us
And momma says it’s going to get worse
Red ants on the tire trails
They don’t...

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I was born in a very small town in the middle of a vast, vast land. 
It was filled with ranches, cattle and grass and the world’s toughest breed of man. 
I was raised with...

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You can tell a cowhand by his trappings
  Head to toe.
He’s not a drugstore cowboy 
  who tries to fool you, though.

His boots are manly footwear
  and they’re pointed at the toe.
They’re...

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Pretty poison in the yard. Butterflies
Abound - Horseflies fly into pool. Bees
Buzz! Algae, fish, lady bugs, yard tools.

Grandma's house is pretty. Houdini The
Turtle escapes to visit. Next door, new
Neighbor - Max! Runs with Arthur -...

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What’s It Like?


First:
A strand of hair finer than silk in the Emperor’s robe blows across her face the very end catching in the corner of her mouth. She fills my field of vision her eyes...

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Rocky Mountains

by Adrian Sutalo

North Park valley where
outdoor adventures await,
Great Lakes to Rocky Mountains 
journey, to seal a cervidae’s fate.

Roads past endless cornfields stretched toward the horizon,
acres tens of thousands of rolling golden prairies,
The burning smell...

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And the cemetery was still and serene
A palette of muted greens, browns, tans and warm gray scene
Fence-post with barbed wire surrounds the garden
Seashells and caliza, sage brush, cactus, and mesquite trees harden
Tall cold stones erect...

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There is an old ranch outside of El Paso in New Mexico
No windmills, not a drop of water, sits on the Mexican border
No horses or cattle, not a cowboy does it employ
Used to be a...

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He was a sweaty little man
But tall in the saddle
He didn't know a lot of things
But he knew 'bout cattle

He was born just outside of Fred,
Almost a town - not quite
First thing he saw was...

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Poet:  Ken Jordan
Poem:  Tailgate Party
Edited by:  Sparkle Jordan
written:  January/2015


It's my 
tailgate party

you're welcome 
to come -

Music's blasting,
and
We
Popp'in 
Champagne,

around
a hot

Webber Grill
In the 
parking lot -

Got my 
game day apron 
on,

Cook'n:

Oak wood Q'd
Baby Back 
Ribs,

Slow grilled 
and
smoked....

Brushed
in 
Sweet Hickory 
BBQ sauce -

and
laced with
 a
half cup 
of
Jim Beam 
Whiskey -

Child 
this party
is Popp'in

Got 
a Deep...

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I have seen,
Time and time again, our rise and fall
But not what passes between. 
However, my reflection stays the same. 
As I ride through the brush and green mesquite
Late in the evening. 

And while the...

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every now and again
when the wind is blowing just right
I hear the music playing
like it did our very first night
maybe it's just the mesquite
or the call of the nightingale
but I know I can hear it
and...

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