writing

Petroglyphs & Sandia Mountains -- Piedras Marcadas, West Mesa Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 26, 1994 -- photo by Mark Weber WRITING

Petroglyphs & Sandia Mountains — Piedras Marcadas, West Mesa Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 26, 1994 — photo by Mark Weber

WRITING

A flashing crooked tongue of fire
reaches out of the black clouds
and
when the mountains crack thunderous cataclysm roar
like a pterodactyl screaming caught in the jaws
of a lizard-wolf
I stand and hold my shield to the sky

Half of us went down the river two nights ago
The rest of us stayed here

They do not always return

The birds also go that way, when
days become shorter and more chill
flying south along the river
but return in summer

I am ancient in days
so I stay here
and watch
and inscribe the histories on these rocks

—-Mark Weber
June 9 & 13 & 21, 2o13

The Green River at Dinosaur National Monument, Utah -- July 14, 1990 -- photo by Mark Weber

The Green River at Dinosaur National Monument, Utah — July 14, 1990 — photo by Mark Weber

Coso Mountain Range, China Lake, California -- Ancient Shoshone -- May 19, 1985 -- photo by Mark Weber

Coso Mountain Range, China Lake, California — Ancient Shoshone — May 19, 1985 — photo by Mark Weber

Piedras Marcadas, West Mesa, Albuquerque -- December 26, 1992 -- photo by Mark Weber

Piedras Marcadas, West Mesa, Albuquerque — December 26, 1992 — photo by Mark Weber

Moab, Utah — January 2, 1994 — (Moab Golf Course site) — photo by Mark Weber

Rinconada Canyon, West Mesa (Albuquerque & Sandia Mountains in the distance) -- October 23, 1991 -- photo by Mark Weber

Rinconada Canyon, West Mesa (Albuquerque & Sandia Mountains in the distance) — October 23, 1991 — photo by Mark Weber

McKee Springs Wash, Rainbow Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Utah -- July 14, 1990 -- photo by Mark Weber

McKee Springs Wash, Rainbow Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Utah — July 14, 1990 — photo by Mark Weber

Horseshoe Canyon, Utah -- April 8, 1990 -- photo by Mark Weber

Horseshoe Canyon, Utah — April 8, 1990 — photo by Mark Weber

Stansbury Island, Great Salt Lake, Utah -- May 20, 1990 -- photo by Mark Weber

Stansbury Island, Great Salt Lake, Utah — May 20, 1990 — photo by Mark Weber

13 Comments

  1. Mark Weber

    This poem took me months to get right —

    I wrote it to fit the photos of the petroglyphs —

    I think I want to do a series of poems on this theme — I have hundreds (thousands?) of photos of ancient petroglyphs I’ve hunted down all over the U.S., Canada, and Mexico — some of them, like the Shoshone homelands of the Coso Range are 5,000 years old — the Albuquerque West Mesa photos are circa 1150-1300AD (there are others on West Mesa that are thought to be a couple thousand years Before Present)

  2. Joshua Breakstone

    Cool, Mark…..Great poetry, great photos! Joshua

  3. vlatkovich

    I too stand and hold my shield to the sky and often feel ancient in days.

    well done…….

  4. Andrea Wolper

    Wow! Gorgeous words and images.

  5. Connie Crothers

    Profound poetry/photos, as one.

  6. steve schmidt

    Have seen some of the same, have not seen many above, and could never write close to the those words.

  7. ronald baatz

    incredible poem, beautiful photos, thanks so much…

  8. Anna Bush Crews

    So enjoyed the petroglyphs and poem.

  9. Sheila Jordan

    Atta guy….go get em…..wonderful my friend……love SHEILA

  10. larry goodell

    thanks mark great news you’ve sleuthed out petroglyphs and writing at/about/from them . . . very clear informative photographs . . . the only ones I’ve photo’d are here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150175537045735.305015.663255734&type=1&l=efd0e95aac

  11. Carol Sawyer

    Thank-you Mark!

    I like the pterodactyl/ petroglyph combo – it sets up a jangling in my brain, that reminds me of your hubcap stuff!

    Hope all is well

    Carol

  12. Alex

    Deeply stirring, Mark. Once again, a humble bow of gratitude to you.

  13. Mark Weber

    I think of this poem as being about diaspora

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