There’s gold in them thar hills! (photos & audio poems)

On By Michele LeeIn Arizona Adventures, nature, Poetic Prose, Verse
Gold Rush
by Michele Lee

The buzz has begun
like bees scouting for nectar
no golden honey will be forthcoming
it is breathtaking beauty these scouts are after
wildflower enthusiasts are exploring the trails
and dancing in fields decorated with colorful petals
placed there, not by human hands, but by birds and the wind

*******

I would drive all day if need be
for a glimpse at nature’s vibrant display
a stretch of flat led us to a peak where men died
during a Civil War battle that occurred on April 15, 1862
the blood of soldiers spilled now rich soil for Mexican gold poppy
a mountainside sewn with gold sequins – a wildflower sanctuary
full sunlight transforms closed petals into gold skirts, shimmering with starlight

*******

I heard travelers speak of disappointment over the closed petals
this reaction I do not understand – nature is infinite in her wisdom
teaching us that there are ideal times to open and needed times to draw in
closed or open, both are golden


Morning Breaks
from We are Poetry: Lessons I Didn’t Learn in a Textbook
by Kym Gordon Moore

As the trees
began to yawn
and flowers awaken
from their beauty sleep

songbirds sing as they prepare
their morning meal
squirrels skip
across dew capped grass

fish splash in a reflection pond
creating pulsating ripples
as the sun rises
in majestic splendor
morning passionately comes to life
and so do I.
🌄

I had the pleasure of taking my mom and my brother’s wife to a wildflower destination, two days ago. It was a chilly cloudy day; the poppies weren’t having it! They kept themselves wrapped tight. Picacho Peak was the location. Snow up high, flowers below.

Seventy miles north of Picacho Peak, the Superstition Mountain range was drawing its own crowd with a blanket of snow at a low elevation (rare occurrence) and south of us, Tucson received significant snow. Cacti covered in snow. Wacky weather. ❄️🌵❄️

On our way home we were in between several State Troopers (behind us) and a truck driver zigzagging through traffic (in front of us) trying to lose them. A chase ensued. A little too much excitement for my mom. 😱

To preview and purchase Moore’s book, click link: We are Poetry: Lessons I Didn’t Learn in a Textbook

Click link if you are interested in learning more about the Battle of Picacho Peak

Thank you for visiting! Be well. 🌻 Michele

Photos: my wildflower images from Picacho Peak, Pistil/Stamen photo taken during my last trip to Desert Botanical Garden

© 2023 MyInspiredLife

77 thoughts on “There’s gold in them thar hills! (photos & audio poems)”

  3. Oh my dear sweet Michele, what awesome recitations you have delivered this morning. I simply love this part of your poem, “nature is infinite in her wisdom
    teaching us that there are ideal times to open and needed times to draw in
    closed or open, both are golden.” Oh bravo my friend.

    You did my poem justice with your velvety voice. Thank you so very much for making my poem a part of your and our morning my friend. Have a FANtabulous day and I appreciate this recognition more than you know! Hugs and smooches! 🥰💖😍🥂😘

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you, Kymbelina. I am glad you enjoyed the readings. A small gesture acknowledging your grand poetry project. 📖 Your poem creates a lovely peaceful scene. 🧘🏻‍♀️ My pleasure to read and imagine being surrounded by the gentle awakening. Best wishes for a beautiful day! 🤗💖

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Oh Michele my Belle, I can’t begin to tell you what a FANtabulous job you did on both of your recitations. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 You can tell your emotions came from your gut and that’s when you know your sentiments are very real. I enjoyed listening to your sweet mellow voice. So comforting! 🥰🙏🏼😘💖😍 Thank you once again my dear friend. I truly appreciate your encouragement. 🤗🦋😊

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Thanks for sharing your spring inspiration in photos and verse Michele. Spring is often a slow tease leading up to full blossoming, in her own time as you wrote. I’m glad you were able to share the wildflowers with your mom and sister-in-law. 🌼

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. Pingback: REBLOG: There’s gold in them thar hills! (photos & audio poems) | From Behind the Pen

  13. Wonderful words Michele, I love the first line “The buzz has begun” haha spring does make us all buzz around outdoors like honey bees. We received over 30 cm last night, probably about 12-13 inches of snow so I loved reading your poem and thinking about spring on this snowy day

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It is a wonderful sound! 🐝😁 An energy in the air! It has been quite a sight to see all of the images coming out of Tucson. Snow covered cacti is a beautiful (and unusual) sight. I wish that we would have had more time to drive further south to see it in person, but Picacho was a fine destination. Thank you and stay warm!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  23. Perfect, how you use your words, beautiful in how they describe what your eyes are seeing. That is so hard to do. Like we are there with you witnessing it as well. Love the little flowers out here in Arizona now. That was some crazy weather we had that day. The flowers probably got confused as well, wondering if they were wrong about Spring being in the air…Winter I guess decided to stop by for just one more day to visit.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I am most grateful for your acknowledgment of my witnessing and writing. Thank you. Confusing weather, indeed. I had the pleasure of meeting two women on the Picacho Peak trail who had just driven from Superstition Mountains. Their photos of the snow-covered area were incredible!

      Like

      Reply

  26. Enjoying the riches of gold in your beautiful landscape. The cacti look very green as well. All the rain you got this winter must be helping create a beautiful spring. Love all the photos and your reading.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  27. Danielle

    Beautiful poem, and beautiful photos! And what a weird experience snow on the cactus! AND a high speed chase on the freeway 🙃 wacky weather…wackier people 😂 Spring I am waiting on you! 🌱

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Snow-covered cacti is a weird sight and also beautiful. That car chase! Excitement for me, not so much for my mom. 😆 We did not see the outcome – hopefully everyone was safe. I bet spring can’t come fast enough for you! Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Danielle. 😊

      Like

      Reply

    1. Nature offers inspiration, respite, refuge, surprises, and so much more. My happy place, in other words. 😆 Thank you for acknowledging that special connection for me, and for enjoying my readings. Have a beautiful week gifted poet! 😊

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  30. Loving these beautiful photos and the words that make the gold in the hills come to life! I too made it out to stop and smell the flowers in the Arizona mountains and what an inspiring sight to see the fields of poppies winding on! ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you, Layla. It was a fun trip, albeit a chilly one. 😁 I saw your photos. Gorgeous! 🌻 How wonderful that you are getting out and exploring the scenery, before it warms up. 🌞 We should have more flowers with the rains we’ve had. 🤞🏻

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s