Love My Sonoran Eden

I love how the mountains rise from off the desert floor
Where strewn about in sand and rock,
Cactus and Mesquite trees grow.
And with them Creosote and Brittle Bush, Fairy Dusters and Mallow flower bloom each within their season.

Here Jackrabbits and Desert Cottontail share the land With Gila Monsters, Desert Iguana and Tortoise, Rattlesnake, Roadrunner and Thrasher.
Here Owl, Flicker, and Cactus Wren nest within Saguaro Condo’s Hollowed out by nest building Woodpeckers.
And Lesser Long-nosed and Mexican Long-tongued Bats sip nectar from brilliant white Saguaro blossoms
Promising a rebirth of both keystone species.
It’s here and there packs of Coyote hunt and share life along with the Javelina, Bobcat and Grey Fox.

Rich beyond measure
Am I for this land that surrounds me,
Thrills me with every turn.
I am more alive, more awake, look for me in it’s wild.

Poem by Kathleen Carter McLin, Cohort 3