imagery as inspiration

i mentioned before what sort of stimuli gets me creative. music and images, and one other: poetry. not all poetry, but the kind strong in imagery will get me. if it opens my mind's eye, puts me in that place, i'll take that feeling and run with it. today, i'm grateful for a blog i follow: http://poem-of-the-week.blogspot.com/

this week's poem, above pate valley by gary snyder, is a sumptuous buffet of desert imagery. detailed, evocative, and steeped in a sense of history both geological and cultural, this poem puts me there in that rocky canyon. i'm surrounded by slivers of arrowheads, of tall ash trees and fresh river trout, of fat deer grazing down the trail, and the juxtapostion of life as a trailblazer--living amidst the glory of nature as i use explosives and fired tools to destroy part of it for the advance of mankind. odd, that i feel peaceful after reading, and have the urge to dive back into my western novel while i have the taste of rock dust in my mouth and crisp canyon air on my face.