The Petrified Forest is a lonesome place -
Wood turned to rock, lie scattered all around -
The seas have vannished, without a trace -
and silence surrounds, this haunted ground.
Two hundred and twenty five million years ago -
It was a different stage, where dinosaurs did roam -
Now it casts a barren look, a solitary glow -
Hard to believe that creatures called it home.
Now your lucky to see a lizard, or a coyote on the prowl -
It's arid land from horizon to horizon, nothing much to see -
But on the cold and quiet nights, you can hear them howl -
and you can hear forever, as the wind blows steadily.
Next door, the Painted Desert, echoes of the past -
Colored rocks of ancient mounds, the eerie badlands -
Here where large crocodiles once swam, but did not last -
Now covered fossils lie beneath the ever-changing sands.
A place to ponder, thoughts both deep and wide -
To wonder at the earth's great varied seasons -
To gaze up to the heavens, 'neath which we abide -
And scratch the head, as we search out the reasons
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
I visited the Painted Desert. It was such a magical place. I never expected to be so enchanted. Magical too, to find a poem written about those places. Thank you. This poem made me feel like a child again, investigating the wonders of the world.