“The Mesa Wind Blows Soft” by Colorado Pete
The Mesa wind blows soft tonight,
The western stars bend low,
Self-shadowed in the firelight
Old dreams, old visions go.
The mesa wind’s a soft caress,
Cool fingers in my hair;
Soft whispers out of lonliness
That breath a lonely prayer…
O mesa wind go far to her
With kisses carried high,
And tell her mountain grasses stir
And ‘wait her passing by;
Go tell her that the mesa trail
Lies yellow in the sun,
And clouds, like dreams, ride white and frail—
Lost longings, one by one.
Summary and Analysis of “The Mesa Wind Blows Soft” by Colorado Pete (1924)
Originally published in The Chicago Tribune in 1924, “The Mesa Wind Blows Soft” by Colorado Pete (the pen name of Arthur Owen Peterson) is a quietly haunting frontier poem rich with longing, landscape, and lyrical intimacy. Written during his years of treatment for tuberculosis in the Southwest, the poem evokes the stark beauty of Arizona’s mesas while exploring themes of solitude, memory, and unfulfilled love.
The poem opens with a soft, almost reverent tone:
The Mesa wind blows soft tonight, / The western stars bend low,
Here, the natural world sets a hushed and mystical backdrop. The “mesa wind” becomes both a gentle presence and a messenger, while the “western stars” bending low suggest an almost sacred stillness, as if nature itself is leaning in to listen to old dreams unravel in the flickering firelight.
In the second stanza, the wind becomes more personal—“cool fingers” and “soft whispers” suggest a human tenderness projected onto the desert wind, as the speaker’s loneliness shapes how he interacts with the world. The wind, like the speaker, “breathes a lonely prayer,” suggesting that the environment shares his sorrow and desire for connection.
The third stanza becomes more direct and emotional. The speaker sends the wind as a courier of love:
O mesa wind go far to her / With kisses carried high,
He asks the wind to tell a distant woman that nature itself—mountain grasses and desert trails—longs for her presence. This use of personification blurs the line between the inner landscape of the speaker and the outer landscape of Arizona. The environment becomes a vessel for emotion.
Finally, the closing stanza solidifies this fusion of love and place:
And clouds, like dreams, ride white and frail— / Lost longings, one by one.
Dreams and clouds drift across the vastness of the mesa, fragile and fleeting. Each cloud carries a lost hope, suggesting the passage of time, impermanence, and the pain of separation. Yet there is still beauty in the longing itself.
A Poem Rooted in Arizona’s Landscape and Spirit
“The Mesa Wind Blows Soft” is a quintessential example of Colorado Pete’s ability to blend personal emotion with the physical features of the American Southwest. Written during his time at the Veterans’ Hospital in Whipple, Arizona, where he was being treated for complications from tuberculosis, this poem reflects both the stillness and grandeur of the Arizona desert and the interior solitude of its speaker.
With its gentle rhythm, vivid imagery, and emotional subtlety, this poem is both a love letter to the land and a quiet elegy for connection lost or never fully realized. The mesa wind may be soft, but its message carries far.
➡️ Learn more about Colorado Pete and his poetry on his poet bio page.
