Poem Exercise

David Colon

Creative Writing

Professor Miller

3/19/18

 

We were at the Grand Canyon in 2014. My mom, grandpa, and both of my uncles organized the trip. It was our first family trip since my Dad got diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I stood looking over the canyon. Pictures couldn’t capture its magnificence. It stretched for miles against an expansive blue sky with clouds that drifted and danced upon Arizona’s backdrop.

NoThe northeast winds hit my chest from time to time juxtaposing the warmness of Arizona with its chilliness. You’d think that in the desert that life would be dead, but it seemed that here, life seemed to flourish. It was dry, harsh, desolate, but full of more life than I had ever experienced. For the last couple of months prior to my trip, I saw the world as having this grey filter to it. But here, that filter was no longer there. Standing over the canyon, I felt alive. I felt small. I felt happy. I was part of a world that had so much beauty, so much more wonder to see. If standing around the perimeter of the canyon made me feel so humbled, I wondered what it’d be like to be at the base of the canyon, to be encompassed by its towering red rocks? I knew it’d take days to hike to the bottom, so I convinced my family to walk about a half mile down. As we descended into the canyon, I was surrounded by millions of years of change and evolution. The canyon’s walls deafened the noises from atop on its perimeter. Not that many people decided to hike down to where we were. We were among a select few that got to experience this eerie quietness. It was just us and the canyon. What stood ahead of us was nothing but a seemingly endless rock path. It was unforgettable.

 

It was warm here

The chilly northeast winds were dying down within my chest

The world of grey, no longer.

Life flourishes underneath this expansive blue sky.

 

I sat looking at its magnificence.

The canyon stretched for miles,

With clouds that danced upon its backdrop.

I was small.

I was humbled.

 

Half a mile down,

Surrounded by million years of evolution.

Noises from atop are now deafened.

A path stood ahead,

Encompassed between towering red rocks and an eeriness.

Life was full of endless beauty and wonder.