Chocolate Brown

Rich Chocolate Brown
swirls around
polished rocks,
making, eddies, whirl pools,
and boils.
Gentle swells pass by
prickly pair, palo verde,
seguaro, ocotillo, sotol,
sycamore, and salt ceder.
Chocolate Brown
sunbathes in deep pools
then pores its self
down a steep trail.
Chocolate Brown
makes tall waves,
breaks white,
and sings so sweet.
Chocolate Brown
carries me through
canyons of colorful rock.
The sun that feels so good
on my skin, melts
pure white snow,
on high mountains.
Earth left naked by a big fire
looses footing and rides
trickles into streams
and flows into the Salt River.
When I wash dishes I
find powered earth
in my pail and I realize
that Arizona is on the move.
When I ride
the cold chocolate water
with nice people who
are trying to have fun
I teach, and learn.
We study the way water moves,
and where the rocks are
under the Chocolate.
We look at cactus flowers
clinging to charcoal basalt,
and multicolored limestone cliffs
high above. We listen to birds,
the Chocolate Brown water,
and each other.
I float past rocks, ripples,
and rugged ridges
and slide through life peacefully
and as joyfully as I can.


by Dan Klinefelter
Living at Second Camp on the Salt River
Standing and sitting around a camp fire every evening. Sleeping in My Truck.

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