Flip open a book of Rocky Brougham’s poems and you’ll find ballads to nature like this one, titled ‘Delicate Moments’:
In this world I’m always pleased,
At little things observed,
Like dew drops on spiders’ webs,
And south flying flocks of birds.
Or frosty crystals that lace my windows,
And snow flakes floating in air,
And summer rain that smells so clean,
And the moment the rainbow appears.
I know the wind that whistles,
I hear the chirping bird,
I feel the earth beneath my feet,
From those little things observed.
The peace I feel fills my soul,
And in writing I share my sense,
Of life’s most delicate moments,
That to me seem so intense.
Brougham published “Poetry of the Parks: Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park” in 2019. Brougham dedicated the book to his partner Hillary Hutson, who illustrated and compiled 77 pages of quatrains written by Brougham about nearby parks.
“I just get out there with my notebook and write them on the spot, and read them outloud to whoever is nearby,” Brougham said, noting reactions are always wonderfully positive. “I advertise that I wrote it, and people don’t know what to do, people aren’t speaking poetry these days.”
He’s faithful to this ritual wherever he travels. The list of his destinations is already extensive, including every state and continent. His stack of notebooks from these trips stands taller than him.
“When I start a poem, I finish it right there,” Brougham said. “It just flows out of me.” He discovered his talent for writing in grade school with his first poem:
Ice to water to stream,
Ice to water to stream,
That is this week’s science theme,
Ice to water to stream.
Brougham is no stranger to passionate hobbies: for a while, he was best known as legendary Broncos superfan Rocky the Leprechaun (Google it!).
Brougham wrote on and got published his work in “Anthology of American Poetry” and “The Glyphs,” a collection from the Moab Poets and Writers Association, and was later nominated for Colorado Poet Laureate. He splits his time between Denver and Moab working in radio and advertising.
Many of the works in his most recent publication explore wonderment upon witnessing changes in nature. Take “I’ve come to the End”:
I’ve come to the end of Cataract Canyon,
Here a floating muck of wood,
Debris washed down from upstream,
Now locked in Powell for good.
Will it sink to muddy grave,
Or continue to float,
Till wind or the next rain,
Puts it in the path of a boat?
Or will it blow to shoreline,
When the water is a little higher,
And end in warm and glory,
Blazing as campfire?
“Nature is what’s presented to me,” Brougham said. “My poetry is unique in that I write about the indescribable beauty of nature.”
Sprinkled in the mix are poems about people met along the journey, and shimmers of light humor wrapping a bow on final stanzas.
“I’ve got a weird rhyming brain,” Brougham said. “I’m sure there are other poets around here, but they don’t rhyme like me. I’m dyslexic and I see the next line in my head, it steers me in a direction and I follow that direction.”
Brougham’s advice to young writers is to always make sure there is pen and paper nearby, because strikes of inspiration don’t announce their arrival.
“It could be as simple as ants in some sand,” Brougham said. “Or cloud shadows on the seven-mile rim like I saw the other day. I could’ve stopped the car and written right there… but I didn’t.”
He’s printed around 2,000 copies of his works so far, available locally at Back of Beyond, Walker Drug, and Desert Dreams on Main Street in Moab and on Amazon online.
“It’s not a thick book… just keep it in the bathroom and try one or two poems at a time, or take it with you on hikes and you can appreciate it like I’m reading it to you for the first time.”
The only problem with poetry?
“It doesn’t sell,” Brougham said. “But it’s not about the dollar bill: I just want people to know there’s a piece of Moab I’ve been able to share.”
During peak season, you can find Brougham outside Desert Dreams on weekend nights tabling his poems and, if you’re lucky, reciting them. The sound of Brougham’s voice enlivened his poems with a mystical quality, as if he was sharing valuable secrets.
“I am an actor and a renaissance man… and Hillary agrees,” Brougham said. “I just hope my poetry is as significant as the country I write about, but people have to take the time to read it!”
Next Brougham plans on publishing works from his travels through the Grand Canyon, and hopes to push the bounds of his travel further than ever.
“I can describe anything better than anybody, so I want Elon to send me up to space!” Brougham said. “I already sent him a poem.”