So Long, Sedona Poem by Bill Galvin

Last night was my last night in Sedona,
So I did sort of a margarita tour,
Goodbye-ing my favorite bartenders, and lying,
Telling each that he/she made the best in town…
After two, I really wasn't lying,
Because the point was pretty moot by then.
The guitarist at the Full Moon did 'Peaceful Easy Feeling',
And early this morning I headed East on 40,
And am now again listening to the rhythm of the road.

I leave behind a quiet oasis of peace where I slept,
And lovely desert trails where I walked,
Beautiful Red Rock vistas, deep starlit skies,
And shady cottonwood trees by the cool stream.

Sedona is one of those places that does you good;
That you carry with you, and vow to return.

As I drive the desert and high plains,
I ride alongside those long, long freight trains
That folk songs are written about;
I counted 160 cars on the longest, with 5 engines.
They snake through the prairie and around the hills,
And meet me back on the flatlands;
The sun shines off the glistening steel rail ahead of them.

The wind is strong, buffeting the vehicles from the south,
As we drive east, gusts bending big rigs to the left.
We can't dodge the tumbleweeds, too dangerous;
I see their strategy, those sneaky, dry, dead plants…
The first sacrifice themselves up against the wire fence,
And the others roll up and over their dead friends,
Only to be smashed to smithereens on the asphalt;
They sound like pencils dropped on a stone tile floor,
And end up like 3 inch wooden straws strewn across the road.
Most are one to two feet in diameter, but one monster…
As high as my hood, jumps up from the gully, and I brace,
But, it makes one last leap to dodge my left headlight.

I found out, as usual, nothing is done in Nature for no reason:
There are a few plant species that form tumbleweed…
And they may be dead, but not dumb…
As they roll across the landscape, they drop their seeds…
This is how they propagate. Amazing.

On the road, or off… always something to see, to learn.

5-15-2016 (Amarillo, TX)