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.

http://library.byways.org/view_details.html?MEDIA_OBJECT_ID=58728

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

http://www.nps.gov/gicl/planyourvisit/gila-wilderness.htm