Poet and novelist Damon Falke's West is a region that begs us to stop and look closely. Falke remembers a mysterious cemetery, perched on the rim of a plateau, where as a young man he would stop and watch and wait, not quite knowing why. In his poem, "Dove Creek" Falke reveals the deep observation practiced by his father, on trips into the desert:
"...There was my father,
Hunched over a cache of stones,
Sorting them out like so many bones
And discarding all but the one
Thin flake that he held up
For me to see. Just this one blade,
Chipped and notched along its center..."
(Broadcast: "Reflections West," 11/11/14 & 11/12/14. Listen Tuesdays, 8:30pm and Wednesdays, 3:54 p.m.)