Desert Solitude

7/23/2024

Hello, blog friends.

This week Colleen Chesebro invites interested poets to focus on the sweltering heat in the Northern Hemisphere or winter in the Southern Hemisphere. My seasonal words (Kigo words) are parched wasteland, amber grasses, and desert solitude. I've composed two tankas (5-7-5-7-7 syllables) related to my surrounding area.

The vast desert, extending in all directions from the small town in which I live, is a constant reminder that we humans are guests on this beautiful planet.

My neighborhood is a quiet cluster of folks from across the United States. Some herald from New Hampshire, others from Connecticut, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and California. I don't know anyone who was born and raised in Arizona.

So how/why did we end up in the high desert? Though I don't have an answer, the residents all seem to have a special love for the natural world, and they enjoy quiet. Could that be the reason? Or maybe it's because many residents are veterans, and there's a VA hospital nearby. Then again, maybe we're all nomads. 😊

I walk in the very early morning, just as the sun peeks over the mountains. I savor the silence and often meet little creatures. The rabbits have grown accustomed to my greetings and are patient when I take their photo. But yesterday I was surprised by something I've never seen before - a hog-nosed skunk.

I grew up around skunks, but this one was much larger than any I've seen. He was about three feet long, scurrying across the pasture path, with tail raised vertically. I froze and got ready to run. I would have taken a photo, but I was afraid to move. My brother once got too close, and I did not want to repeat his experience. 😲

Click here Wikipedia, if you'd like to know more.

I hope you have a wonderful week, dear friends. And if you're familiar with skunks, I'd love to hear any tidbits you'd like to share. 'Till next week, all the best to you and yours!

30 Comments

Balroop Singh link

7/23/2024 11:44:00

Your poetry contains an awesome feel and I love the expressions like 'shades of ivory, orchestra of movement' and 'silence synchronized'! Wow! Thanks for sharing the desert delights, Gwen.

Gwen

7/23/2024 12:17:58

Thanks so much, Balroop. I'm elated you enjoyed the tankas. ❤️

Liz Gauffreau link

7/24/2024 05:08:36

I love both tanka. I always appreciate a poem that celebrates the land in which the poet lives.

Gwen

7/24/2024 07:47:16

Thanks so much, Liz. 🌞

Daniel Antion link

7/24/2024 06:56:05

I rather like the idea that you're all nomads 😉

I don't think our rabbits would enjoy foraging in the high desert. They're out there right now, nibbling on grass that is still wet with dew.

Gwen

7/24/2024 07:49:49

Nomads it is! 😄 Your bunnies look very happy in the grass. There's none of that "green stuff" around us right now. but the bunnies survive somehow.

Timothy W. Dittmer Christine J. Dittmer link

7/24/2024 07:18:13

Fantastic poetry, Gwen. When a skunk has its tail up it's ready to spray. It's good that you didn't make a movement that would scare it.

Gwen

7/24/2024 07:51:35

My mom wasn't pleased when my younger brother came home crying after being sprayed. Since that time, I've been very cautious. Thank you for the heads up. 😊

Jan Sikes

7/24/2024 07:33:38

I most definitely would have frozen at the sight of the skunk, Gwen. Glad you escaped that one. Love the poems!

Gwen

7/24/2024 07:54:52

Thanks so much, Jan. Yep, I ever so glad to have escaped as well. 😊

Priscilla Bettis link

7/24/2024 08:55:57

Your desert photo is pretty (the poem, too!). But like you said, it does remind us that we are just guests on this planet.

We had 12 skunks living under our house last year. When we got rid of them (humanely), the vole population in our yard grew.😂

Gwen

7/24/2024 08:58:45

OMG!! I can't imagine! BTW, I had to look up voles. I don't think I've seen one, but they look cute. 😲

Marcia Meara link

7/24/2024 09:53:16

You've introduce me to an animals I never even heard of before, Gwen, the hog-nosed skunk. Very interesting, and the ones with the white backs are really pretty, too. (We just have skunk-nosed skunks down here in Florida! 😁) And while we have a prairie or two, we definitely don't have any deserts. Would love to visit your part of the country one of these days. Who knows? It could happen!😁 ❤️😁

Marcia Meara

7/24/2024 09:54:39

Sorry for the typos! I need another cuppa tea, I reckon! 🙄😁

Pete Springer link

7/24/2024 10:19:40

I love the line "an orchestra of movement." Skunks are certainly not the first animal we think of in that environment. Quite a find! We're sitting on the banks of Lake Superior right now, enjoying quality time at our family reunion and enjoying our new grandson.

Gwen

7/24/2024 11:31:56

Oh my goodness, I envy your time with family. Enjoy every moment, Pete. 🌞

John Howell link

7/24/2024 13:47:31

Your story of the skunk reminded me the time I came home late and hit a skunk with the door to my car. He strayed the entire interior and me of course. I came into the house and got in bed. The wife woke up and asked, "Have you been drinking?" The car was a total loss. Loved your Tankas

Gwen

7/24/2024 20:58:23

LOL! That must have been quite the experience, John, and I can truly understand that your car was messed up. I bet you weren't laughing at the time, but looking back, it's hilarious! 😄

Annette Aben

7/24/2024 17:39:12

Can't say I am well versed in the four-legged variety of skunks...

Gwen

7/24/2024 20:58:55

😊

Thomas Wikman link

7/24/2024 20:12:37

Both poems are beautiful. Arizona is a very beautiful state. I've been there several times. I had skunks running in front of me but never a three feet skunk. I would also hesitate to do anything. I have never been sprayed but I've heard a lot of bad things about that.

Gwen

7/24/2024 21:00:06

Thank you, Thomas. I've never been sprayed either, and I hope never to be. 😄

Selma Martin

7/25/2024 02:56:22

I knew I’d find something beautiful here. And I was right. Lovely Gwen.
Nature has the right!! Lovely. Thanks. Xo, Selma

Gwen

7/25/2024 04:12:34

Thank you so much, Selma, for your kind words. ❤️

Yvette M Calleiro link

7/26/2024 13:17:44

I don't know that I'd ever volunteer to get up that early on a daily basis (lol), but I love that you get to glimpse animals in their natural environment. I enjoyed my visit to Arizona, but I couldn't be in that heat all the time without the ocean to dive into. Great poems, Gwen!

Yvette M Calleiro :-)
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com

msjadeli link

7/27/2024 13:43:49

I like your afterwords as much as the poems themselves, Gwen. Oh my, that is a beautiful critter. Never saw one like that, and I'm glad they let you pass by in peace :)

willow link

7/28/2024 05:05:46

I do love both your poem Gwen and your explanation of why you and your neighbours have come to live in this desert, which I admit scares me the vastness of plains of yellow. I love your ideas on it. I looked up that skunk wow he is huge and all snowy on top the lack of his warning strpe belies the danger.... To the senses 💜💜

Colleen link

7/28/2024 12:30:57

Gwen, your tanka poetry is simply lovely. I love how you captured the late summer cycle of the desert. By the time we reach August in the desert, most plants are bleached dry! How is your garden doing?

ben Alexander link

8/4/2024 02:06:25

These are really well rendered, Gwen... Very vivid. I love this line in particular:

"silence synchronized"

Beautiful - I can see the desert in my mind's eye.

Much love,
David

Melissa Lemay link

8/31/2024 21:14:40

Oh my goodness! The main experience I have with skunks is seeing them (and smelling them) on the road.😢 I got to see one at a wildlife refuge once, but he was in an enclosure. I think I’d like living in a desert area. I love nature.

Desert Solitude

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