Wild West Gold Mine

just a bit of poetic whimsy and the History Channel's newest show about "The Dutchman's Treasure" in the mountains of Arizona...:)

The Wild West Gold Mine---

 

You are the westward mountainside

Weathered, craggy, and snide

You bake all day in the heat of the sun

Like boulders on a cliff, worn,

No water to run

Rattlesnakes infest this land

Indians claimed it for their wandering bands

Inhospitable, insensitive, rude

Difficult to warm to; easy to feud

 

There is that vein of gold run though

The mother lode is deep below

Once the secret was revealed

It’s now a fever to stay and

Fulfill…release the gold

Yon heart is found

It is so bright and

Warm and

bound

 

The challenge is to climb to the top

Find the gold and dance merrily, stop

Ignore the sharp edges, mind the sheer drop

Pack loads of water and forgive the ugly hop

 

For your secret is out; it is all mine

I just have to ignore the sharp-tongued

Craggy edged boulders from time to time.

 

People wonder why I bother…

I see them smile kindly in worry out yonder

But they don’t know you nearly so well

They don’t know what lies beneath

the rugged, superficially, nastily rude exterior

Lies the sensitive, precious heart of gold, interior

 

 

Bright Ocean Star; March 15, 2015

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

This one has been mulling about in my head for the past week. I decided it was finally time to put it to paper. I hope you like it...:)

Reviews

[Deuces]

The inner beauty of the rugged Wild, Wild West. I often feel I had a past life there, in mining towns like Dodge City and Tombstone. I'm a fanatic and researcher of that time. This brought me back to books like "Doc Holliday's Woman".

Thank you for this.

[Bright Ocean Star]

Thank you again. I haven't read this one in so long. I've been off this site for months and months. Thank you for reading through my library. Your comments are kind and helpful. :) I love reading through your work as well.

[Tinotenda Nyevedzanai]

Really like the layout and play on words here well done - ATC

[Bright Ocean Star]

Thank you, Ally. I'm happy you liked this one as well...:)

[MomzillaNC]

There's always more than we see… If someone makes someone we care about happy, who are we to question what they see?

[Bright Ocean Star]

It is true. Love is a mystery with great caverns and cravasses of depth and topography that stike a chord in each of us. Often times, the superficial layer that everyone is allowed to see is nothing but a defense shield to prevent others from seeing the beautiful sensitive soul within. Thank you, Momzilla. I always appreciate it when you review one of my poems...Be blessed, dear friend...:)

[MomzillaNC]

You're welcome.

Actually, I was just talking with someone about this. A recent death of someone's spouse was the topic. No one liked her. But he stayed married to her for over 30 years. He stayed with her and cared for her tenderly even after she became a complete, bed-ridden invalid. People keep talking like he's free now and they don't understand why he's clinging to the big house and stuff she was perceived as having always insisted up. I pointed out to the person I was talking with that he didn't stick around for over 30 years, and give such devoted care to her final days if he wasn't getting something out of it. He obviously knew something in her that none of them ever saw.

[Bright Ocean Star]

Absolutely. Somewhere, somehow, they were kindred spirits on a level invisible to the average person. Thank you for that story. It was beautiful...:)

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you.

[Einstein Noodle]

first half is very strong .. for me the second kind of falls off so to speak .. i love the story of the Lost Dutchman ... you describe the danger and the temptation very well .. so self destructive to take the challenge .. almost like a cutter releasing pain .. i think it would take a Helen Keller with a heart of gold to seek the same in such a thorny exterior ... and in reality .. all those lost within the cranny and craig of the Dutchman!! nice one! glad you finally put it out!
E.

[Bright Ocean Star]

Thank you, E. I am happy you liked the first half. That terrain is not for the feint of heart, but what an adventure that would be!

[Bright Ocean Star]

E, this poem was actually meant to describe my irrascible husband. It just so happened that the History Channel show was on Sunday and we watched the piece about the Search for the Dutchmans' treasure, and I thought it was wildly appropriate...:)

[Einstein Noodle]

your irascible husband .. oh my! :) no body's business but is he still with you .. living under your graces?? :))

[Bright Ocean Star]

Yes. It's very much like living with Clint Eastwood. He's a very strong, take no prisoners, say what you want kind of person. I ignore his craggier side and just let it roll off of me, because he's a sweetheart underneath. You just can't let the surface fool you, or his choice of comments...:)

[Einstein Noodle]

ohhhhh! i get it ... the second half of your poem :} duh!
E.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

oh this is so good anne...what an allegory....it is the mountainside and such a description of it, but it is also a heart that is hidden...something really good hidden beneath the craggy surface, a tender person inside who is quite capable of the mother lode of love, if only we are willing to dig.

[Bright Ocean Star]

Thank you, Jacob! You don't know how happy you just made my night! Thank you ever so much. I wasn't sure this was any good at all. Hugs to you!

[Bright Ocean Star]

Gives new meaning to the term 'gold-digger'! Ha-ha! :)