How Did I Get Here?
The first Bards and Bratz event at the Arivaca Dancehall happened on the afternoon of October 1st, with the theme "How the Heck did I Get Here? and Why am I Still Here?"
I decided to write a poem for the occasion, and below is Part 1, accompanied by photos of the Arivaca Cienega taken in 1993 during the very first trip Uno and I made to this area:
HOW DID I GET HERE?
Frosty, pink dawns in the Cienega;
Red-winged Blackbirds calling from the Cattails;
Deer standing in knee-high March rain;
New leaves on the Cottonwoods;Black Vultures playing with the wind;
Ginormous Barrel Cactus;
Mergansers and Buffleheads in the Willow Pond;
Pied-bills in the Grebe Pond;
Lark Sparrows darting in and out of the trails;
White Kites and Northern Harriers hovering overhead;
The warm warm sun,
shining on Vermillion flycatchers;
The bubbling of the creek over rocks and downed logs,
a ribbon of green along its edge;
A Wilson’s Warbler landing on my hat;
A Golden Eagle gazing from a Mesquite;
Miles of weathered grassland rustling in the wind;
The open road;
Sunsets stretching far and wide;
Wall-to-wall stars;
Baboquivari.