Category: Poem Of The Day

Arizona

Here’s to the land of the rock and the cactus,
The sun and the sand and the sky,
Where the weather is hot and the tourists are flocking,
And the cowboys are riding high.
Here’s to the land where the copper is gleaming,
The land of the orange and vine,
Here’s to the land of the mountain and mesa,
Where hearts are as warm as the clime.

About the Author

James William Foley (1874–1939) was an American poet known for his work that often reflected the landscapes and life in the American West.

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Deserted

Deserted are the canyons,
And the mesas wide and bare,
The rivers run in silence,
Through the lands that none may share.
The peaks are wrapped in shadows,
And the winds that sweep the plain,
Bring no whisper of a footstep,
Nor the echo of a name.

About the Author

John Charles Van Dyke (1856–1932) was an American art historian and critic who also wrote poetically about the desert landscapes of the American Southwest.

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In the Arizona Desert

In the Arizona desert,
Where the sun is fierce and high,
Where the purple shadows gather
Underneath the cloudless sky;
There the silent mountains beckon,
And the lonely mesas call,
There the cactus blooms in splendor,
And the golden poppies fall.

About the Author

Charles S. Wortley was a lesser-known poet who captured the stark beauty of the Arizona desert in his works.

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Desert Rain

High in the sierras,
All the smouldering summer,
Sudden the thunder!
Rain on the mountains,
Rain on the dry hills,
Spate in the gullies.

Manna of heaven
That lays the dust of the valleys,
Manna of heaven,
Working a miracle.

Rain on the desert,
Meagre and moldy,
Kissed into blossom;
Nourished to comfort
My heart and my valley’s
After the thunder.

About the Author

Mary Hunter Austin (1868–1934) was an American writer who wrote extensively about the American Southwest.

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Arizona

A land of mesas and of rocky spires,
Of wondrous canyons and eternal fires,
Of boundless spaces, mighty, grim, and grand,
Where silence keeps the secrets of the land.

About the Author

Clarence Urmy (1851–1923) was a poet known for his vivid descriptions of the landscapes of the American West.

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Desert Rain

Across the burnished mesas
They march in lines of jade,
The thunder-heads assembled
To crush the light parade.

The shadow of their wingspread
Sweeps through the cañon’s door;
Out leaps a sounding fury,
And torrent floods the floor.

About the Author

John Gould Fletcher (1886–1950) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who often drew inspiration from the landscapes of the American Southwest.

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Oh, land of the cactus and yucca,
Of towering rock and of sand,
Where silence is king of the daytime,
And the stars rule the night with their band.

Oh, land of the old and the mystic,
Of legends that linger and glow,
In the hearts of the men who have loved thee,
And the spirits that wander below.

About the Author

Sharlot Madbirdth Hall (1870–1943) was an American historian and poet who wrote extensively about Arizona and its landscapes.

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