The Arizona Son

The Arizona Son is a book of poems that reflects a poet that is inward yet observant to the outside world of experience influenced by Arizona. The title The Arizona Son is a metaphor with many layers of meaning. On one level it is about the beautiful and diverse state of Arizona but as you read into the book you will understand the many different layers of meaning. On another level the title The Arizona Son is an icon (ideal) like other titles of poems in this book such as The Poetry Man and The Teacher. In these poems the speaker is honoring an icon an ideal that the speaker aspires to be. The speaker not only refers to the self but others as well. In some ways the poet is The Arizona Son but so are his brothers and others. The Arizona Son also reflects a philosophy as seen in poems like The Canyon Faces and The Little Navajo Girl that we must nurture Arizona (the earth) as one would nurture a son or any child showing respect for nature and people. Plus it is about spirituality as seen in poems as Depth and Scared of My Conscience. And there is much more. The reader can gain a lot by reading The Arizona Son.