From the Mountains of the Sun
The titular mountains of this newsletter are the Santa Catalinas and the Galiuros, both rugged sky island ranges in southeastern Arizona. My home lies in the narrow space just between them, overlooking the San Pedro River valley.
On a map this area looks empty. Trust me, it is not empty. It contains many lives, many spirits, many eyes, and many thoughts. And some poems.
For the rest, I am a quiet poet. There are things that I feel very deeply about, but do not write about. Here is what I do write:
The Poet
An eye that sees the flower, sees the star,
Knows neither the beginning nor the end
But just the moment of things as they are—
The truths the moments only comprehend;
The vision that finds words to speak the dream—
Its end and its beginning—in a soul,
That brings to life the things that scarcely seem
Alive till words and memory cajole
Them from cacophony of fools. Daybreak
Of dreams and moments' wisdom else forgot,
Nightfall of visions, knowledge, joy, heart's ache;
The deep things else we cast aside for naught
(For we are careless) dares the poet prize,
Each dream with words enchant, immortalize.
One very personal note. I try to interact, to respond and relate with my readers; when I don’t, it is typically because of health issues (the current diagnosis is simply chronic migraines). Please understand that I deeply appreciate your comments and encouragement, even when I can’t reply or can only reply very briefly. And to those of you who take it a step further with a paid subscription, my deep and sincere thanks—you can’t know how much it means to me, though you may guess how much even the small sums of subscription help keep me afloat.
For the same reasons, I follow only a handful of other Substacks, and I seldom comment either on posts or on Notes. My migraines can easily last five days running (this is an improvement!), which makes it very difficult to keep up! So I write—which I can do with my eyes closed if necessary—and hope you my readers will understand.
And for those of you who enjoy this view from the mountains of the sun, I have two other newsletters. One is an ongoing account of building a small garden here: you are welcome to open the gate at A Thornscrub Garden. The other is a weekly anthology of old poetry and art, please enter and enjoy at Pearls of Long Ago.
Thank you for reading!
A. Christine Myers
