Dreams of riches,
Leached from the ground
By muscle, pick axe and shovel.
Panned from our rivers
Even dust brought great joy.
Craning skyward
The Superstitions loom large
Legend says there is treasure
Long lost to time and greed,
Hidden where it can never be found.
Miners still prospect for their slice of the pie;
Looking for that vein to bleed gold in these rocky crags.
Others chase the lore;
Seeking after the Lost Dutchman’s riches.
Not for the faint of heart,
Either destiny or curse has claimed many a soul.
Still this does not deter.
Maybe Waltz did dance around the truth,
Perhaps the joke’s on those that believe a fortune exists in this granite hell,
We may never know.
Maybe hope is enough to keep us alive,
Hope that our pot of gold survives
Beneath the armor of these…
Superstition Mountains.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Authors Note: This piece is about the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine in the Superstition Mountains located near Apache Junction, Arizona just outside of Phoenix. The legend carries on to this day with people continuing search this treacherous mountain seeking the goldmine that Jacob Waltz claims to have discovered and kept secret unto his death in 1891. More can be read about it here.
Dom DiFrancesco 
Yes 🙂 hope is the one that keeps us alive
Yoshiko
This hit a particular note in me. I don’t see my brother often because he lives so far away (Apache Junction AZ). I went to visit him a couple years ago, and I remember a fond moment staring at the Superstition Mountains in awe while he told me tales of the land about them. Thank you for reminding me of this moment.
Oh it was my pleasure. I don’t live very far from them and yet don’t get over on that side of town very often. Hopefully you will have an opportunity to visit again, they really are quite a sight. Thank you my friend. 🙂
Really interesting and great that inspired you!
Thank you Gilly. The Superstition Mountains from a distance appear to float above the earth’s surface, pretty amazing sight and a nice place to visit. There is a replica gold mining town at the base of the mountains that still has a working gold mine on it though be it a very small one.
I hope you realise that this fine piece of poetry is going to cause another gold rush!
Possibly so, this really is a quite magnificent mountain with probably the most well know goldmine legend in the United States. Thank you for reading my poem Mike and I hope that if you haven’t done so, that you get the opportunity to visit some time.