A First
I usually don’t have any luck going back and revisiting
songs that I have started and never finished.
If a song doesn’t pretty much “finish itself” then it was probably not
meant to be. I can no longer say that
though. I started a song years ago,
probably 13 years ago, about the Gila Wilderness in southwest New Mexico after
night camping at the Gila Cliff Dwellings.
Well, I have always liked the song, liked the tune, liked
the first verse but just never able to bring it to some completion. This weekend I went back and revisited
it. The revisit was prompted by the
fires that are currently burning in the Wilderness. The Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire has been
burning for weeks. It is a big one. I think the thought of this pristine landscape
in flames spurred me to finish the song.
The words are below. Go visit the
wilderness ---- somewhere. Maybe not
here, but somewhere. Come out and see me and the band and hear this song in person.
ODE TO THE GILA WILDERNESS
(copyright @ Lesli J. Wood; June
10, 2012)
Gila morning, clear blue sky
Sun to catch an eagle’s eye
Sailing by.
Children’s laughter, on canyon walls
Washes down like waterfalls
Spirit calls.
CHORUS
Gila sunrise over stones of gray
Gila moonrise take me back to yesterday.
Wind through willows, snow on bough
Diamonds sparkle on the ground
Winter’s sound.
Desert flower, cactus bloom
Rain filled canyons beneath the moon.
Nature’s loom.
CHORUS
Gila sunrise over stones of gray
Gila moonrise take me back, to yesterday.
Flowered meadows, sun on gray
Watches over all the day
Fade away.
Scenic view up the Middle Fork of the Gila
River.
NPS Photo by Bruce Bloy
