 It’s Poetry Friday!
Join our host Bridget at wee words for wee ones
to find all the poetry goodness going out in the world this weekend!Â
Today is National Day on Writing!
I was delighted to see my desert home highlighted for one of the writing prompts.
Here’s a peek at a 2-minute video of some of the beauty that inspires me!
I returned from the mountains yesterday. My first outing this morning was to get my pup outside before 7am (we have about four more 100-degree days before SUMMER ENDS here). Since I have not written about the desert –yet, I pulled a haiku from my desert archives for today:
cascading spires
hillside march of saguaros
desert convention
poem and photo ©2023 Patricia J. Franz
You can find my posts for Write Out Week Two below:
Day 7: “On Dollar Hill”
Day 8: “coyote morning”
Day 9: “boundaries”
Patricia Franz is a kidlit writer and published poet. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
Patricia, I love your poem and photo! Wow, every word is perfect. I especially love your personification in hillside march of saguaros. Thank you for sharing your poem, photo, the video, and your inspiration. I always learn so much from your poetry. Have fun with your puppy and I hope you’re in air conditioning when it jumps up to 100 degrees. I am looking forward to reading your other poems on at a later day!
PS I love your title “coyote morning”; it’s been a few years since I’ve heard their yips and howls, which I love to hear. A friend’s dog used to howl back to the coyotes. I wonder if your puppy howls back to them. 🙂
Oh how I miss saguaros. Your poem is prickly perfection. Saguaros were one of my most favorite parts of living in Tucson. The heat, on the other hand, I do not miss.
Of all my imaginings every time I view the hills of saguaros on visits to Phoenix, I never thought about a “convention”—I love it, as well as the movement in “cascading spires” and the “march of saguaros”!
Patricia, you brought back a vision of the desert and saguaros that I saw for the first time when I went to Arizona for a convention. Loved your use of the word convention in your poem. I read sound and am ready to breathe in autumn. Have a happy weekend exploring.
I am saying “ditto” for the word “convention”, Patricia! Love the picture on a hillside. I remember hiking the mountains in Arizona with students & us saying it’s like a forest but there will be no leaf drop later. . . They are majestic to see. Thanks for sharing this.
Lovely video and landscape. So different from what I am used to! It has been raining all day here, so the bright sunshine and cactus-covered hillside is a welcome sight!
Patricia, welcome back to the southwest! I hope you have a relaxing and beautiful winter. That “desert convention” makes me look at saguaros differently! 🙂
You captured the scene perfectly! (I just wish I could have a breath of that dry, dusty, sage-scented air!!!)
This is gorgeous! Can’t wait to read more of your desert poems.
Patricia: I was in AZ when I witnessed the fall of a huge saguaro in a canyon. It echoed all through the canyon, shook the bushes at its base, making a strong impression on me. You’ve reminded me to write about it! Thanks.
Oh, that’s so clever, Patricia!
Love “desert convention.” Glad you made it safely back to Phoenix.
What a great photo and poem pairing, Patricia!
“cascading saguaros” a lovely image. Your poem and photo complement each other!