Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Natural Beauty - #TankaTuesday #bussokuseki #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #nationalparks @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! I'm back from my hiking road trip. It was absolutely amazing! My son and I visited seven states [Nevada, California, Arizona (driving through), Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana (driving through)], went to six national parks (Yosemite, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone), and hiked over 85 miles! Yes, you read that correctly! LOL! 

We completed many easy and moderate hikes, but we also conquered some strenuous (and even dangerous) hikes. We completed Angel's Landing, which is considered one of the deadliest hikes in America (of course, I didn't find this out until after we hiked it). We also completed the Narrows, which took us ten hours to do since it was mostly in shallow water with slippery rocks. 

The different landscapes were gorgeous, and the peace that surrounded us was incredible! Temperatures ranged from 37 degrees (during a sunrise hike where I froze my butt off) to 110 degrees of dry heat in Vegas. My favorite park was probably Grand Teton because the smell of evergreen was so strong, the sounds of the streams and birds were relaxing, and the beautiful sights were mesmerizing. I took hundreds of pictures and will post more on my IG/FB pages later, but here are a few pictures from our trip:

Vernal Fall at Yosemite National Park

Crooks Meadow with Yosemite Falls at Yosemite National Park

On top of Angel's Landing at Zion National Park

View from above Angel's Landing at Zion National Park

The Narrows at Zion National Park

Big Springs in the Narrows at Zion National Park

Bryce Point at Bryce Canyon National Park

Natural Bridge at Bryce Canyon National Park

Thor's Hammer at Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park

Delicate Arch at Arches National Park

Double Arch at Arches National Park

Grand Teton/Jenny Lake at Grand Teton National Park

Hidden Falls at Grand Teton National Park

Cascade Canyon Trail at Grand Teton National Park (my son)

Sunrise at Schwabacher Landing at Grand Teton National Park

Leigh Lake at Grand Teton National Park

Geothermal Pool at Yellowstone National Park

River at Yellowstone National Park

I missed a lot of poetry challenges while I was gone. I detached from social media and technology as much as I could during this trip, so this is my first poetry challenge in a while. Colleen invites us at #TankaTuesday to write a bussokuseki, which is a tanka poem with an extra line of seven syllables at the end. I've chosen to write about my experiences in the national parks.


Natural Beauty

rich evergreen smells
permeate the summer breeze
thunderous falls roar
still lakes mirror grand mountains
huge rock forms create wonder
our world is so beautiful


Would you like to write a poem for this prompt? Join us here.