Inspired by Chaco: Anson Wright, Musician and Writer

Chaco Canyon has inspired many to express themselves creatively. One of those is Anson Wright, the Chaco Alliance Coordinator, who donates his time to lead the charge in our efforts to prevent the paving of the north road into Chaco.

Anson is an accomplished jazz guitarist and writer, having published three books and recorded two CDs (and a third to come). I recommend checking out his work.

Anson's marvelous collection of poetry, much of it inspired by his deep connection with Chaco, is called Sandstone Monastery. The cover is clearly Chacoan, showing the Supernova Pictograph near Penasco Blanco.

One reviewer said, "Wright delivers personal and moving passages concerning family, love, spirit and the landscape of his beloved Chaco Canyon."

And he has recently come out with his second CD (with photos of Chaco on the cover), The Sky at Our Feet, in collaboration with John Stowell. John, a musician who also loves Chaco, has put Anson's powerful poetry to music - a wonderful combination.

One of the moving poems set to music on the CD is "Coming Home."

Coming Home

Salt Lake City heat rising off the asphalt below a third floor balcony with a view southwest to Chaco. Across the shopping mall looms the Olive Garden, white people slow-dining at a furious pace. Money flows from air-conditioned hands, menu choices tempt in dizzying abundance, a leisure class dines casually with non-leisurely appetite.

In Bloomfield, New Mexico at the Conoco station in the heat of late morning, I am struck by the bustle, the gas nozzles constant in and out, the sun-darkened workers busy about their day. I sense the earth’s slow energy many layers beneath their feet, the quiet presence of a shrine unrealized in their lives.

Perhaps wild ponies are always prancing in slow-motion across the mesas. Perhaps speeding on the freeway we are also just walking, the power grids in the distance leading to ancient signal fires. Perhaps we are still breathing cool spirit even in our frantic doing. And this sadness can give way to the faith that no worlds will be vanquished, that stillness resides even in this indulgence, this blistering flight from our own selves.

Copyright 2004, from Sandstone Monastery