Silver Lines

The mountains are draped with mist
but
the peaks cut through like knives.

Long way home

We moved up the mountain. The height matched the vertical. The trail was rocky, rolling under my shoes.

You kept up with us. Your little, old paws padding through. Tongue hung out and a grin on your face.

Back at camp, everyone is exhausted. And you made it all the way. So tired is your body, splayed out on the bed. But so happy are the dreams dancing in your head.

The Goat

Nimble and sure-footed
scraggy white fur,
the goat ambles to us.
Make way for those horns!

Suspicious yet ornery
in the way he cocks his head.
Perhaps curiosity has bested him
and that is why we’ve met.

He follows us
only a few paces behind
and stops when we do.
He is surely not blind.

Where are you going?
This silly goat.
Who scales a cliff
like nothing is amiss.

Gunsight Pass

The rough ballooned clouds
burst through the smooth, flat
bottoms of the others.

Their rounded bodies just visible
over the rugged peak.

There is a keyhole splitting the ridge
with a picture frame view to either side.
Named Gunsight Pass, there is no question why.

Crystal mountain lakes lay deep in the bowls.
Patches of snow glisten in the scree.
Marmots chirp their warnings
to the strangers they see.

The path gets ever steeper.
Footholds grow narrow,
but to stand on the divide
and see the two worlds apart
is worth the effort
and good for the heart.

Mountaintops

At the summit
we have only boulders
to bear witness
to our gain.

The upwards march
of a silent cadence
through the trees
now below us
like the cities before.

The wind has strengthened.
Clouds move fast
and though we are closer,
the sky still stretches
beyond the horizon.

Our bodies are tired
yet resilient
such a natural place of rest.
The worry of tomorrow
seems so distant
when the world
is laid out before you.

Bent River

When the moonlight peaks over
those softly swaying cottonwood trees,
you’ll find me by the river
dancing to the rushing water’s beat.

Cool air drifts into the valley,
driving away the summer’s heat.
Barefooted, young, and naive,
no one could ever make us leave.

With the comfort of the river,
we share our happiness and grief.
Weaving tales that become legends,
the things of old, the things we keep.

It’s there that I found my first kiss.
Moonlight dazzled and drunk on the night,
she was more than beautiful;
my friends say I was just a lucky guy.

When people hear that water humming,
they begin to relax about their day.
Laughing and sharing with one another,
fear and worry is easily washed away.

I learned secrets not yet forgotten.
Heard things I can’t repeat.
I will never forget those nights
and everything they mean to me.

When the moonlight peaks over
those softly swaying cottonwood trees,
you’ll find me by the river
dancing to the rushing water’s beat.

Swollen

The clouds move
like an army
over the mountain.
Their bellies barely
scraping the jagged edges
and tips of pines.
With each moment,
they grow larger
swallowing the last
of blue sky.
The wisps become thickets
of dark grey and white.
Though they are quick to pass
through a maze
of valleys and peaks
they stagnate
on the far east edge
and begin to release
days of rain
that they have been keeping inside.
Dousing the plains
and slinking further up
until
there is nothing left
to hide.

ROCKY SPINES

Rocks break through
barren ground.
Their jagged tops arch.
A piece of Earth’s spine
as Nature has allowed.

They stretch
into the distance.
Undulating
on the edge.
A gate,
to the West.

In the valleys
between them
drifts untamed land.
May that beauty
stay hidden
from the hands
of Man.

Temporary Ground

Climbing to the top
of the mountains,
I was finally above the grey mist.
Below the valleys
and plains were just a blanket
of clouds.
Both strange and beautiful
was this temporary ground.

Still waves of puffy white
breaking on shores of pines.
The sun streaking
bands of gold
on high.

ASHES

When I die,
don’t bury my body deep
with no living thing to see.

Take my ashes
and scatter them wide
across the mountaintops
and canyons
of the Divide.

Where I found my peace
in the solemn beauty
amidst the pines
and roaring creeks
of nature’s glory.