Unquenchable land of blushed sandstone, fragrant with cliffrose,
Tossed with tumbleweed, desert globemallow and gnarled junipers,
Awash with arches, hoodoos and bridges — remnants of ancient seas. Ages ago,
Hapless dwellers sighed farewell songs to these sacred grounds.

desert globemallow in Utah

fragrant Cliffrose and Balanced Rock

Cliffrose

Delicate Arch at Arches National Park

Skyline Arch at Arches National Park

Park Avenue at Arches National Park

Landscape Arch

Partition Arch

sunset at Arches National Park

Dead Horse Point State Park

Utah juniper

Canyonlands – Grand View Overlook

Sipapu Bridge Overlook – Natural Bridges National Monument

Owachomo Bridge at Natural Bridges National Monument
Valley of the Gods, on the way to Monument Valley, which is officially in Arizona:

Valley of the Gods

Valley of the Gods

Approach to Monument Valley
*************************
“POETRY” Invitation: I invite you to write a poem of any poetic form on your own blog about a particular travel destination. Or you can write about travel in general. Concentrate on any intention you set for your poetry. In this case, I wrote an acrostic poem about Utah.
“The basic acrostic is a poem in which the first letters of the lines, read downwards, form a word, phrase, or sentence. Some acrostics have the vertical word at the end of the line, or in the middle. The double acrostic has two such vertical arrangements (either first and middle letters or first and last letters), while a triple acrostic has all three (first letters, middle, and last)” (from The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms).
Some examples of acrostics can be found in Seasonal Sonnets (Acrostic) by Mark A. Doherty.
You can either set your own poetic intentions, or use one of the prompts I’ve listed on this page: writing prompts: poetry. (This page is a work in process). You can also include photos, of course.
Include the link in the comments below by Thursday, July 5 at 1:00 p.m. EST. When I write my post in response to this challenge on Friday, July 6, I’ll include your links in that post.
This will be an ongoing invitation, on the first Friday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂
I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!