Love Letter to Colorado
If I had to name one place that has shaped my soul more than any other, it would be Colorado. It’s where I first wandered into the wild, where I learned to listen closely to birdsong and breeze, and where I discovered the sacred connection between nature and story.
This land has been my teacher, my healer, and my greatest source of inspiration. Its beauty is not just something I admire — it’s something I carry with me, in every story I write.
A while back, I sat down to put those feelings into words. What emerged was this simple poem — a love letter, really — to the state that has given me so much.
Love Letter to Colorado
My dear Colorado —
You have won my heart. For my whole life, you’ve given me…
The spiraling songs of meadowlarks
Fresh peaches, swollen with sunshine
Snowy summits
Alpine meadows of lupines, columbines, and glacier lilies
Wide prairies; slim canyons
Mysterious tracks in the snow…
Pictographs from ancient peoples
Towering spires of stone
Geologic time measured in millions of years
A single swallowtail butterfly afloat on a breeze
Mountain peaks alight at dawn, aglow at dusk
Golden groves in September
Stars that drench us in waterfalls of light
Boundless blue sky – so enormous, we all feel bigger
More snowy summits
Alas…the huge herds of pronghorns I saw most days as a kid on the ranch – now gone, pushed away by fences and strip malls and paved parking lots.
Frogs on a peaceful pond
Honey from the bees of mountain meadows
Fox and owl, salamander and (high in Weminuche) elk
Footprints of dinosaurs
The sweet scent of apple blossoms
Migrating cranes calling across the miles and the eons
Illuminated rain that melts into mist
Fierce green eyes of a bobcat
Red-tailed hawks soaring on the swells
More snowy summits
Hikes and campouts with family and friends
Songs and stories on summer nights
A glistening rainbow trout in the river
That secret marsh rimmed with purple iris
And from all this…
Endless inspiration.
How can we do anything else, Colorado, than strive to protect you? To save your open lands, water, clean air, and wildlife? To value your wilderness, your quiet?
Thank you for all your glorious gifts! May we ultimately earn the right to keep them, know them, and cherish them.
