Wild One (audio poem)

On By Michele LeeIn Arizona Adventures, Audio, Nature, Verse
Wild One – audio poem by Michele Lee
Wild One, you have changed.
I barely recognize you most days;
not even your scent remains the same.

I see less and less of your
openness and ruggedness.
I sense less and less of your
earthiness and rowdiness.
Your wild nature now tame.

Wild One, you once stirred
a fire within, fueled by a restless wind
that whipped from Superstition Mountain.

While I slept, covered in a misty haze
of prickly pear, creosote, and desert sage,
you scurried in crevices with stinging venom,
hissed with a forked tongue and movable fangs,
and prowled with predatory howling brethren.

Wild One, you were once free-spirited –
tumbling and spinning in every direction,
whirling dust devils, blending seeds and dirt.

A fiery soul tempting me to explore and roam
through thorny fields, with dandelions overgrown,
covering knee-high socks in prickly thorns.
Belly to ground, dirt in mouth, barbed wire torn,
a discovery of what grew beyond, a scar formed.

Wild One, your rustic grittiness
sometimes softened by the bliss
of delicate sweet blossoms.

Not always present, a natural fragrance
flooding the air during flowering season,
floating across the exploding orange sky,
oozing from the center of gentle white,
wrapping me in a perfumed delight.

Wild One, you now exist in fragments,
haunting streets lined with sidewalks split,
sagging homes, and suffocating cement.

Where is your wildness that once
freely danced in and around me,
that you once effortlessly shared?
Eyes closed in a desert dream,
the Wild One is there.

🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵

I am pleased to share photographs, taken by photographer, Jerry Bombardier, featuring some of the natural beauty found in Arizona, including one of the seven natural wonders. If you have never been to Arizona, consider scheduling a trip, when it is safe to do so. During the summer, I would not recommend, unless you are visiting higher elevations, like the Grand Canyon. 🏜 My poem pays tribute to the wild west landscape I explored as a kid, much of which is now covered in stucco and cement. Fortunately, a drive away from the city corridor still offers many natural places to roam and explore.

Thank you for visiting, reading, listening, and viewing. 🌞 Be well.💗 Michele

Check out more of Jerry Bombardier’s photos on his Instagram page: www.instagram.com/jbombardier_photo/

Photo 1: Salt River Wild Horses, photo taken at Coon Bluff Campground at Salt River Photo 2: A section of Superstition Mountain, taken at Lost Dutchman State Park Photo 3: blooming saguaro cactus Photo 4: Grand Canyon ~ All photos, except the one of me walking, were taken by Arizona Photographer, Jerry Bombardier

© 2021 Michele Lee Sefton. All Rights Reserved.

72 thoughts on “Wild One (audio poem)”

  2. What a lovely tribute to a wonderful landscape. I have been to Arizona only once, but heat aside, I immediately appreciated the lay out of the land. The mountains and it’s gorgeous cacti. As for the Grand Canyon, the name grand says it all. It truly is grand!

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  7. Jerry Bombardier

    This is beautiful Michele. Thank you so much for including my images with your poem. I can certainly relate to appreciating the beauty of the desert environment that yet remains for us to enjoy and explore as our society expands and encroaches upon the delicate southwest landscape.

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    1. Thank you, Jerry, for your words and for generously sharing your beautiful photographs for others to enjoy. The sunshine draws people here, and we can’t blame anyone for that. I am a native, and the growth I have witnessed through the years is incredible, especially when viewed from an airplane. We are fortunate though, and your photos prove, that we are still surrounded by beauty and wild. 💖 Responsible planning and sustainability are vital for the future generations. Of course, that is true everywhere. 🌎🌍🌏 Thanks again for sharing what you have captured through your lens. 🙏

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  8. This is lovely and haunting–your desert Southwest is such a beautiful place. I love the wild emotion and imagery in your poem. I think this should resonate with anyone who’s ever felt an ache in their chest whenever a new subdivision sign crops up in their beloved landscape. But I’m glad you still have plenty of wildness to experience and delight in. May it always be!

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    1. “An ache in their chest…” yes, that describes the feeling of seeing food-producing farmland or pristine desert landscapes disappear to yet another subdivision or strip mall. We all need to live somewhere… myself included, but it is sad. Thank you for sharing your perspective about urban sprawl and for your kind words about my poem. 🙏

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    1. Nico, I appreciate your ongoing support each week. The photographer, Jerry, was so kind to send me a few photos, upon my request a few months ago. The words percolated this week. Thank you for reading and enjoying his captures and my shares. 🙏

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  12. That is one gorgeous poem, line after line, I loved reading and feeling of it.
    I have been fortunate to spend 6 years in Arizona, and simply love the rugged beauty. We made day trips to the Grand Canyon few times a year along with so many other trips. Living in AZ is a such amazing access to some amazing nature. I loved your poem and post dearly.

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    1. How wonderful. Summers here do test me and always make me want to escape, but yes, the rugged beauty is divine and dusty. 😄 I am thrilled you have visited the Grand Canyon. One of many examples of the rich natural beauty found on our great big planet. So many things to see and do! Thank you – your comments are so sweet. 🙏

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  15. Days gone by are days to think of and remember, even if we ourselves were not there to witness the raw beauty of the wild one. I love your tribute to the lives that were replaced with another kind of life, perhaps as raw and somehow as beautiful . . .

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    1. Progress and change moves at a pace that can make us fail to remember and reflect. Thank goodness there are writers, poets, and other artists to help with that. 😉 Snakes, scorpions, and coyotes still exist and roam, but they lose more ground every year. True, all life is beautiful and even though humans are “civilized” we are still raw. Thank you, Jaya.

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  17. Michele, your poem spoke to me on many levels. I spent a winter season at the foot of Superstition Mountain, Coon’s Bluff being a favourite spot, and of course, the wild horses. So I loved the landscape and imagery in your poem.
    I also have always thought of myself as a wild horse, tamed by expectations and time, but the wildness always there.
    Thanks for your words.

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    1. V.J., how wonderful that you could personally relate to the scenery and my words. Thank you for sharing a bit about your own wild nature and your experience living near Superstition mountain. It is a majestic magical mountain, and of course it is magnificent to see the horses roaming wild and free. Keep that wildness alive!

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    1. Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment. We do mellow out with age, this is true. 🙂 My poem refers to the disappearing native landscape in the ever-growing and populated areas in Arizona, but this poem can certainly apply to people as well. Thank you! 🙏

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      2. Arizona is in the southwest region of the US, part of which is the Sonoran Desert. Plenty of saguaro cactus and desert critters. Hopefully Jerry’s photos gave you a little sampling of the natural beauty.

        Liked by 2 people

  20. This poem is after my own heart. I love these wonderful beautiful creatures. You have captured the essence of the awesome of the environment that has been bequeathed to us. This is the beauty that Arizona told in the beautiful language of poetry. It’s a verse in all the gorgeousness of your soulful voice told in the utmost eloquence.
    Thank you for giving us the experience that we could not have otherwise known , through this wonderful post 🤗👍💖

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    1. It offers itself freely and lovingly to your insightful poet’s heart. With your poetic ability to not only write about the natural world, but to become that which you write about, I am honored by your compliments. 😊 Thank you, Wild One, for reading an excerpt from my dusty desert wild west memories. 🌵🦂 🐍🐺🍊🔆🤗

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      1. I forgot to tell you , your post reminds me of Louis L’Amour. I loved his books and your post brought me back reminiscing to the days when I gorged on western novels.
        I salute your very ingenious, gifted , productive mind. The dynamics of your quill is a force to reckon with. It’s mighty in its individuality and I am happy that you give us an experience to remember.
        Happy and safe week to dear my soul sister across the aether. Stay warm !

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Funny that you write that – Louis L’Amour was my grandfather’s favorite author. I wrote about him in the poem, “Blood Builds a Bond.” He is the one who earned medals for his heroic acts, fighting in WWII. He passed when I was young and most of my memories of him, were of him with his face in a L’Amour book. I have visited a few sites around AZ that have a connection to the author, but I have never actually read one of his books. I am motivated to do that now, thank you! Perfect timing, since I just finished another book. Do you have a favorite of his, that you can recall? 😊
        The joy I receive from writing would be enough for me, but your recognition is a gift that inspires me to continue down the road of sharing. Thank you sweet (and Wild One). A safe and warm week to you too! ☀

        Liked by 1 person

      3. We are all somehow connected , in some way or the other.

        You happen to know, ‘Sudden series’ by Oliver strange. I read his books too.
        All westerns.

        Can’t remember any favourite L’Amour tho.

        I can literally feel myself giving you a hug.
        I leave you now dear kind wise one , Moonflower with star power, that’s you. 🤗💖

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you for visiting, Joe. I have traveled to and through Texas many times, and yes, although it is different, it is a beautiful state.

      Thanks for sharing my poem! I will gladly check it out. Have a great week. 😀

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  22. asumoftheparts

    What a beautiful tribute to the Arizona all of us natives love. Michele, the oral version is impactful, and the style in which it is written easy to understand. I found the double-spaced versos without stanzas difficult to transition from one Arizona element to the next. Perhaps something is lost in print on the screen. Vicki

    >

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    1. Thank you. It sounds like you are reading from the email version, which does not maintain formatting. I suggest always going directly to my site for best viewing and reading. Sometimes the email version also fails to include the audio file. I have included the link directly to the post in this response. Thank you for visiting and for your feedback and let me know if you have any additional challenges with viewing.

      https://myinspiredlife.org/2021/02/06/wild-one-audio-poem/

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