Author: christofino

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Hot off the press: Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks guide


Without a doubt, one of my all-time favorite projects was working on this national parks guide to one of the most beautiful corners of the globe. Excited to finally see it in print – and just in time for the NPS centennial!

If you’ve yet to be inducted into the Utah fan club, it won’t take much: this is a state where labyrinthine canyons, red-rock spires, moonlit desert arches and slickrock playgrounds reign. It doesn’t matter if you’re a couch potato or hardcore thrill-seeker equipped with a GoPro. Grab a bike, rope or paddle and get out there and have fun!

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Stag

It was midnight when we saw
the solitary buck
parading down the suburban sidewalk
his crown of antlers reflecting
the pale moonlight,
head held high, as majestic as a king
deposed, in a realm unworthy
of such grace.

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Waiting Room

Watching the wind grab the snow
with bunched fists
and scatter it across the lapis sky
above the distant ridgeline
it’s like the breath of some god
made manifest before our eyes.

And indeed, the breath of some god
is what we are all waiting for
here, in the hospital,
where the chemo patients sit
in armchairs looking out
through giant windows
at nature’s cruel majesty,
which is cell by undying cell
gradually doing them in.

Continue reading “Waiting Room”

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Lonely Planet Kids: The Travel Book

Did you know that Myanmar’s snub-nosed monkey sneezes every time it rains? That the British Navy defended the Somalian coastline from pirates by blasting Britney Spears? That the, ahem, Mongolian death worm allegedly kills its prey with electric shocks that shoot out of its eyes? This was one editing project where I constantly had at least one child looking over my shoulder, and the entire family is very excited to now see it in print!

If you’ve got a child who loves learning about the world (or is perhaps studying for an upcoming Geo Bee), grab a copy and read up on all those fascinating facts about our planet’s 196 countries.

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Owl

Owl
you call out
from the dusk,
an eerie song
that catches
my daughter’s ear.

Hoo-hoo
hoo
hoo

Is that death you sing of there
or a pledge to protect the souls
of the not-yet-dead?

We follow the hesitant notes
into the yard,
a chorus of insects
expanding into the empty space
while we wait.

Hoo-hoo
hoo
hoo

We know you owl,
we listen to you outside the window
sometimes, when darkness falls
but this is the first time you have shown
your tufted head.

The children creep closer
thinking they can capture the moment
with their hands
or perhaps steal a closer look
that will somehow unveil
mysteries hidden
in the shadows.

Hoo-hoo
hoo
hoo

Occupying the same fence post
as hawks and larks
a perch shared by the winged,
I wonder: if I could balance there
what would I see?

Not the play from my current spectator’s seat,
but the inherent role
that’s played inside the things
a mouse scurrying through the grass
the silent wings
that swoop down
and the talons that squeeze

our hearts
when you
depart.