Out West in the 21st Century
poems, prose and photos
on Living in the West
by Craig Rock
Looking down at the Colorado River from Dead Horse Point in Utah.
The American West is the history of everyone who has lived here to work and play in this very majestic, compelling theater of open space with endless challenges. Hopefully, our history in the long run is so much more than the exploitation of people and natural resources. If we can focus on the things that join us together rather than the forces that separate us into warring camps, maybe we’ll have a chance to make this a better place for our children and their children, and so on. These writings and photographs are some thoughts and images that I have gathered over the past 45 years. It is a work in progress. I can be reached at: duniterock@gmail.com
All photos and writings copyrighted 2013 by Craig Rock, unless otherwise stated.
"One writes out of a need to communicate with oneself and with others,
to denounce what causes sorrow and to share what gives joy.
One writes to counteract one's solitude and the solitude of others."
(Eduardo Galeano)
Genoa, NV
Chiricahua AZ
All Along the Fault Line
by David Bolton
A pine high in the Sierras
a spot of green among glacier-carved stone
a bonsai overlooking Spooner Lake,
roots splitting boulder.
Ah, to walk with old friends
to be one with the wind
to cease the chatter of the mind.
Before a meadow speckled
with the colors of Seurat,
we stood in a butterfly cloud,
a thousand flickers of orange and black
rising from the path.
Amidst birches, we smiled at dancing doubloon leaves,
two middle-aged couples with ailments indeed,
but our hearts still quickened
over what may lay ahead.
We felt our senses keen
an overlook humbles the eye.
Craig uttered Wordsworth,
about the world being too much
with us – yet for time short and true
though we may not be pagans suckled in a creed
we lost ourselves in the mystical vastness.
-- Dedicated to Denise Becker and Craig & Susan Rock
8/23/04
Lunch Time, Financial District
Anywhere U.S.A.
by Craig Rock
The hungry man musing about better times
watching quarters fall, meter-like
sometimes dollars into his near empty hat
making it comfortable for office man
to enjoy lunch while sitting back in sun
in line for giant steps
grabbing firmly everyday for promotions
on wishbones never letting go.
Two o’clock and 62 degrees
time and temperature
for office man
to scurry back to cubicle;
For hungry man
to dissect waste cans
opening discarded paper bags
and rumpled wax paper
finding occasional gold nuggets
no wishbones just skin and pieces of
Kentucky chicken-scented bones.
the homeless man and
the office worker sharing
lunch time
eye balls rolling on both sides
never catching each other's gaze.
Dead Horse Point, near Moab, Utah
Crowley Lake, Elevation 7000 feet, near CA/NV border
Toy Soldiers and Old Forts
by Craig Rock
Old fortress
ragged brown stone windows
glowing gold from sunlight
giving depth
to Mediterranean mountains
against ocean-blued skies.
Sending stupors of silent awes
to those who gaze
at your glow,
forgetting the glory of your soul
where thousands once died
to save your place.
Swords and shields
are put away now
no reason to be
except
to the forever-small boy
who plants his torn flag
in a strategic cavity
that sends his soul to glory
and gives you immortality.
Port Townsend, WA
Trillium Lake, British Columbia
Dunsmuir, CA
