Tag Archives: arizona

In Search Of Dinner (Haiku)

Embed from Getty Images

In search of dinner

Flying amongst the street lights

Mexican Free-tail Bats hunt

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Dreams of Riches

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.

Discrimination

Discrimination

By religious objection

Legally sanctioned

Isn’t it time we grew up

And let bygones be bygones

Yet some of us can’t

Gays can be refused service

In Arizona

That is if the law passes

Welcome back to the stone age

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

~

 AUTHOR’S NOTE:  For those that are interested here is a link  to the story that prompted me to write this piece.  Arizona is placing a bill in front of the governor for her signature or veto that allows individuals, businesses and religious institutions to deny service or admission, primarily to members of the LGBT community so long as they can show that their discriminatory actions were prompted by their religious convictions.  This is disgraceful in my opinion and certainly does not make me proud to live in this state.

Castle in Ruins (Tanka)

Montezuma Castle circa 1887
Near Camp Verde, Arizona

Castle in ruins

Never Montezuma’s home

The white man’s mistake

Thinking that he knew it all

Only to find he was wrong

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 AUTHOR’S NOTE:  Montezuma Castle is located in the Verde Valley of central Arizona, along a tributary of the Verde River called Beaver Creek. The Verde Valley provides a natural corridor and trade route between the southern desert and the northern plateau, and has been inhabited at different times by several different cultures.

There is evidence of Paleo-Indian hunter-gatherers in some parts of Arizona that date as far back as ten thousand years. In the Verde Valley, there is direct archeological evidence of human habitation dating back only about two thousand years, although it is almost certain that people were there long before that.

From about 600 to 1100 AD the region was occupied by a people with ties to the Hohokam, a major culture centered around present-day Phoenix. The remains of pithouses—one-room structures built of rock, mud, poles and sticks characteristic of the Hohokam culture—can still be found in the area. One such pithouse is on display at Montezuma Well, five miles to the northeast of Montezuma Castle along Beaver Creek… More

 

Flash Flood – A Tanka

Taken by Dom 9/9/2013 - North Phoenix Arizona

Taken by Dom 9/9/2013 – North Phoenix Arizona, taken outside my office window

The storm rages on

Rivers of mud replace road

Sidewalk riverbanks

When the flash flood expires

Where does all the water go

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 Authors Note: This is something in the 12 years that I have lived in Arizona I have never seen before.  This is a major road which runs in front of the busiest municipal airport in the country, which happens to be right outside the window of my office.  This road is a total of six lanes wide, 3 going in each direction and the river of water and mud nearly met to cover the entire road.  A pretty rare site in this part of the country where it is normally so dry.

Lady San Estrella

Dark and exposed after eons under the sculptor’s chisel

Laid naked to the elements and the seasons

Sharp, jagged and formidable, few dare confront you

Either out of fear or rightful respect

~~

A few fools dare scale your rocky crags in quest of your treasures

Cutting deep into your subterranean veins

Drawing out your blood and secrets through violent means

Leaving hollows only to be left abandoned once bled dry

~~

Still this does not detract from the adoration of your admirers

The saguaros raise their arms to the sky in praise

Brave faced monolith, you offer comfort in spite of the desecration

Providing shelter to those that dwell under your protection

~~

Your strength and bravery are none diminished

Inspite of the riches stolen from your purse you hold your head high

Taking revenge on those with careless intentions

Showing no remorse in light of the pains you’ve endured

~~

It could be said that nature has been cruel to you

Yet you have not taken this to heart

Your life can not be counted in mere mortal years

Since you have outlived those that laid claim to your precious abundance

~~

Our prayer is that your future holds you in appreciation and respect

No more to cut and scar your rough hewn beauty

You are a wonder to behold

To be looked upon with reverence as the creator intended

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

The Star

By D. R. DiFrancesco

Touching heaven with finger-like peaks

Bathed in purple and black

Crags and fissures a sign of her violent past

Yet in these chiseled features there is peace

Calm in her desolation

Joy in her solitude

Rains come, seldom, brief and miniscule

Life  giving none-the-less

Colors erupt skyward from cracks and crevasses

Green, yellow, orange, and purple

Clothing fit for a queen

Floral draped plains bow at her feet

Only the finest for such a star

Sierra Estrella her name

But the cape once so lovely abandons her

Leaving her naked, hard, and rough

No less beautiful in the raw

Standing tall, she resumes her watch

Desert, now void of  an audience unfurls

Bowing blindly to her majesty

Hawks and buzzards her only court

Left to marvel at her magnificence

Her strength, her beauty, her wonder.

The Sierra Estrella Mountain range (estrella in spanish is “star”)  is located southwest of Phoenix Arizona.  My home looks over these mountains and in the years that I have lived here, I have never gotten tired of looking at them.