A poem by my mother from 1979

Have you ever been to sunny Arizona?
When the air smells April
And the wind so ever warm?
Through the days of March
Wind swirls about in circles
Thus, the danger ends..
An April day is born.

The wrathful winds of March
They make the lazy valley sway
They make the children cry
With devils dancing to the sky...
chortling their short life away

the devils dance is over
spring smells so clean and neat
for a time; a glimpse of eden
til the summer's stand still heat

In mid-July comes the monsoon
with lightning so fierce it can strike you down
the dust devils fly again like a witch on a broom
Things seem safe if they stay on the ground

A town becomes the devil's target
As power lines ignite
And roofs soar off their buildings
Like saucers lost in flight.

Have you ever been in sunny Arizona
When the time is Autumn
And the breeze has kissed your face
Flowers, cacti, mountains
All wear their cloaks of beauty
And the trees of the valley rustle
With a gentle, loving grace.

(I wrote this poem after we had this big storm in March and the Beefeaters Restaurant on Camelback, which was a big restaurant at the time-the roof actually blew off and went soaring down the street bumping into cars and it was a mess...)