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NEW RELEASE: GILA WILDERNESS POETRY ANTHOLOGY

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In honor of the 100th anniversary of the Gila Wilderness, regional writers have
collected poetry, prose and photographs, to express their love of the Gila’s wild
natural beauty. The finished book, Looking to the Mountain: Sacred Lands, Healing
Cultures – A Gila Anthology of Words and Pictures is now available for you to read and/or download for free.

The Gila Wilderness in southwest New Mexico is the world’s first designated
Wilderness. Established June 3, 1924, it is the remotest section of New Mexico’s
Gila National Forest, which comprises 3.3 million acres of wild, natural beauty.
U.S. Wilderness Areas are defined as “an area where the earth and community of
life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not
remain.” Camping, hunting and fishing are allowed, but no roads, buildings,
logging, mining, or mechanized vehicles are permitted.

The idea of “wilderness” had long been a dream of conservationist Aldo Leopold
who, as a young man in the early 1900s, was one of the first U.S. Forest Service
rangers in the region. Lessons he learned during his tenure in New Mexico and
Arizona convinced him that some of America’s vast landscape needed to be
preserved from human commodification. Lobbying Congress with elegant essays
and insights, Leopold’s dream was realized with the preservation of the Gila
Wilderness area — a mountainous region of tall trees, majestic canyons and wild
rivers, once home to tribes of Chihene (Apache) people.

In fact, the name Gila comes from the Athabaskan word Xila (pronounced Chee-
lah), meaning ‘Red Clay Hands,’ the name some Chihene gave to their homeland.
Spanish speakers later rendered it as Gila, a homophone that carried the sound
but obscured the origin.

On Sept 13, 2025, several of the Gila Anthology contributors got together at the Black Range Lodge in Kingston, New Mexico, to share their work and celebrate their love of the Gila Wilderness. I was the MC of the event and had such an amazing day.

Here I am at the event with folk poet JOHNNY HUERTA (on right) and Santa Fe poet Josh Robbins (on left)

Thanks to UNM’s Dr. Michelle Kells and her team for making this Gila Anthology come together!

The whole GILA anthology is free to read online and/or download HERE.

3 top 10 poems

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in high school, my drama teacher told me that I “march to the beat of a different drummer and that drummer is on a hill several towns away.”

this last year I’ve pushed through my typical self-pitting, sardonic, whiny and short-tempered poetic tendencies to find joy, light, laughter and silliness.

i’m so thankful to have found Jokes Review who continue to appreciate what I’m up to, read for yourself, three new joke poems.

RADIO INTERVIEW AND DISCUSSION WITH POET STALEY

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Think Again: Tim Staley on Poetry

Recorded live in KTAL Studios on 3/17/2025 : In this program, poet and English teacher Tim Staley treats us to some perspectives on poetry, language, images, and how they shape our ideas of reality. The conversation opens with Tim reading Rumi, the Persian Sufi, mystic poet and Muslim scholar. Tim expands into how poetry can bring us into the moment, the very centers of our own lives. He guides us through an exploration of how our minds and emotions are influenced by word choices. Tim shares his thoughts about how AI may come to influence our writing, even of poetry. In addition to Rumi, he reads writings from several poets, including his own and those of Las Cruces, NM resident and internationally recognized poet Joseph Somoza.

LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE

Think Again: Poets, Joseph Somoza and Tim Staley 4.17.23

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Today we’re treated to thought provoking readings of some works by two local poets. Our guests are Joseph Somoza, retired NMSU English Professor and current Organ Mountain High School English teacher, Tim Staley, reading selections of their own poetry. These writers reflect on their personal writing processes, and concepts of poetry in general, and more. The conversation touches on how language and poetry both shape and express the seen and the unseen aspects of who we are as individuals and as cultures. It’s a fun and thoughtful peek into the personal and professional realms of poetry. Their poetry books are available at some local bookstores and at online booksellers.

STREAM THE ARCHIVED EPISODE

The first 9 weeks of quarantine : a video retrospective

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1.   COVID VIRUS PLANK

Back in mid March, 2020, I was on fire with vigor and optimism. This shows the transition from the classroom to the backyard spitting of fire by MC FLASHCARD:

2.   STALEY’s EASTER 2020

In early April there was lots of eating and drinking and being miserable, but no weeping. Here’s a trailer from our family Easter festivities:

3.   The Covid-19 Compliment

There came a point in late April 2020 when everybody in my family thought they belonged to the suckiest family in the world. Like we could not even give an honest compliment to each other. See for yourself:

4.   DEAR SENIORS

Then, in late May, my Seniors graduated and I wrote them this poem while suffering mid-grade cabin fever. The weeping had begun–slow at first, then steady:

5.   MAD COWS – MYSTIC PICKLE

My first band was called the Mad Cows. When we started we were in the 10th grade, Montgomery, Alabama. We reunited in the pandemic, and after 9 weeks of work, all we came up with is this.

(WARNING: may contain artistic quality issues):

A NEW POEM ABOUT A FERN

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My fern poem is here.

Eric Magrane, a poet/geographer from NMSU, put together a killer project in the form of Spiral Orb 15.  I encourage you to check out how he designed the online experience of the journal (it doesn’t rely on graphics and yet it holds me). For Spiral Orb, each writer was assigned a species found in the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in Southern New Mexico.

I wrote a poem to my favorite fern. When I found out my fern was called the Fairy Sword Fern, I thought I was getting lucky.  The speaker in the poem struggles with aging and marriage, and when he looks to the fern he is envious and this leads to anger.

Magrane put together a spirited reading where I got to perform my fern poem and hear top-notch poems about some of my favorite species like the ocotillo and the phainopepla. Here is the flyer for the reading that already happened, you know, for your records:

 

MC FLASHCARD SPITS FIRE AGAIN!!!

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Have you ever done time in a New Mexico public school? if so, these bars are for you. Hear MC FLASHCARD preach over a beat made by Dr. SWA, one of his finest students. Flashcard delves into the New Mexico Public Education system from both sides of the dais.

LYRICS:

New Mexico C

(verse 1 MC FLASHCARD)

Crusty, musty our budget’s real low

Trust me, in the LC that’s how it goes

Grease up the grades like a mechanic

cars broke down, I feel kinda manic

All through high school the microscope’s on you

The adults round here got no follow through

And what exactly are you graduating to

Suicide hotline’s got a waiting room

(chorus)

Skiree skiree

Which one of ya’ll ever thinks about me?

I think I’ll grade ya’ll a New Mexico C

deserrrrrrrve it

 

(verse 2 MC FLASHCARD)

I sling the hammock up between your ears

Focus on your breath, now, never fear

All the trash card haters writin’ a  diss track

I best ghost write it so it’s worth a crap  

Now listen to me once, never to me twice

I’m not gonna ride you like a little tighty white

Now I never meant to do ya’ll a disservice

Half the time I feel my lessons are worthless

(chorus)

Skiree skiree

Which one of ya’ll ever thinks about me?

I think I’ll grade ya’ll New Mexico C

deserrrrrrrve it

(verse 3 MC FLASHCARD)

Some say I should shave, get a haircut

Buzz cut my B-Ballz, that won’t shut me up

Caramelized onions and chile relleno

Sure my life’s all wrapped up like a burrito

Don’t quit your cell phone cause i tell you to

My clothes get faded grading you

If only I was casually observing you

If only I was casually observing you

songwriters: MC FLASHCARD, DR. SWA

The Most Honest Syllable is Shhh now available on Amazon

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Tim Staley’s newest chapbook, The Most Honest Syllable is Shhh, is now available from Amazon.

This 32 page collection was originally released in June, 2017, by NightBallet Press out of Cleveland, Ohio.

Here is a poem from this chapbook:

 

My Life and Your Life

 

My life almost feels

like your life.

Your life might be

someplace nearby.

I turn over your life

like a ceiling fan:

on/off off/on

fast/ medium fast/

really fast.

In winter I turn

the other way.

Or is it your life

turning over mine?

TIM STALEY WINS DONA ANA ARTS COUNCIL AWARD

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• Poet, lyricist, rapper, teacher, mentor, and motivator Tim Staley will receive the Arts in Education Award, honoring “an individual whose leadership and pioneering spirit promote and shape visual and performing arts education initiatives.”

Staley, a native of Montgomery, Alabama, has a master of fine arts in poetry from New Mexico State University. He has taught at Oñate High School and as an adjunct instructor at NMSU. He started a KTAL radio open mic event. He sponsored the state “Poetry Out Loud” contest for eight years, and his students have gone on to national competition in Washington, D.C. He founded Grandma Moses Press in 1992 and currently serves as publisher. He is the author of “Lost On My Own Street” and “The Most Honest Syllable Is Shhh.”

 

Read the full Las Cruces Sun News article.