On Tucson

***At a visit with a class to the UA Poetry Center, I wrote a poem based on Tucson and Cathy Park Hong's "Ballad in O". Yes, it was an assignment, but I kinda like the result.***

Well, I'll tell you
The sand and the sun burn hot
While the people move fast,
Heads down,
Hands out,
Holding more bright lights and thumbing away.
The cacti stand idly by
Continuing their slow growth
As they have for ages and centuries past,
Arms raised, pleading to an unrelenting yellow star.
I see them, and I see you
In this red brown misbegotten city
Of a college town,
And it's beautiful and ugly and glorious in the same glance.
I am but a traveler here, stuck
By the endless beach with no ocean in sight.
Won't you look up, see not the dusty array
Of squat buildings and black asphalt,
But see me,
Standing,
Walking,
Talking,
Wanting to see some hope,
Some kindness,
Some love
Here.
Well, I'll tell you this -
It's always there -
Invisible, waiting, hiding -
Here.