Short Palo Poems

a November breeze
one palo verde blooms
anyway...

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It was hefted upon a breeze -
   As in a warm, flowing current
Through a sea of palo verdes -
   To search for an embankment.

That seed of promise -
   An implicit aster -
Was sent to broken gneiss
   To become one with nature -

A golden bloom to come
   To an expectant glen -
Not knowing how it found home
   Except that it did....

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The Wood That Smelt Good:
I adore your smoldering odor.
Your sniff makes my nostrils go gaga.
It's like someone threw a rose at my nose.
Whoops, got it too close too my face; now I've got a left ash-cheek.
Try not to freak, but this smudge is gonna be here all week.
I've heard the birbs; they've spoken 'bout your smokin'.
Then they left a few turds as a token....

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Bless each palo verde bloom –
   Those cuplets kissed by the sun
My vision wants to consume
   That thus have raptured my love.

See how they speckle the tree
   With a burst of yellow bright
And upon the branches flit
   By the wind that blows nigh –

Leading me not to consider
   The force behind nor why
But to admire how they arch
   In reverence to the sky....

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Green clinger on arid arroyo rock, 
Spring blooms of faded yellow you did drop.
Desert dry took a toll of leaf and branch
Leaving photosynthesis to your bark.
Life is tough, lizard kissed, so short and harsh.
Unlike upland cousins, you are blessed:
In your shelter rests a saguaro babe,
Whose stately arms one day will take your place.
                          01/28/2020...

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A thin wisp
Like fingers entwining
Opening like a budding flower
Skywards

Taking a path, a grey meander
Spooling and curling
Relying on a gentle breeze
For safe passage

The momentary heat on wood
Sublimating to perfumed wonder
Entering my body to 
Ensnare the soul

The scent which evokes
For each a different memory,
A feeling; but to all…
Solace, fortitude, release...

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Behold the marvelous wildflowers!
How they boldly carpet a sloping glen –
Our gift from Earth’s seasonal showers. 

Hardly is the desert recognizable
Come March to an untrained eye when
Spring has announced herself in full

Except for occasional saguaros –
The perennial observers to this annual display –
Perched on the precarious ledge they chose. 

Penstemon and globe mallow are in glee;
Even the palo verdes celebrate
By showering the ground with yellow confetti....

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Usually, I just pass by
with a glance, read their
life story without making
eye contact so my wallet 
doesn’t feel sympathy,
but this time, his cardboard 
sign screamed at my heart.
It was as if his soul breathed 
hope onto what he wraps 
himself in at night.
His cried out eyes
had a thick layer of 
fog over the pupil,
nostrils were cracked,
wrinkles grinned 
dog fur white.
Yesterday, in Palo Alto,
I gave a homeless man 
money,
my freedom only
cost three dollars....

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