Monday, August 22, 2016

New Hampshire Suite VI

VI.

Nervous, at first, the ride
To the mountain’s bony peak, we turn calm, feel
Secure by the gondola’s perfect rise. Up above,
We walk the spiral of pines, under the radius of sky, whisper
Directions, notice, on the floor, the bloom of fern, its fingers, dirty
Green, toothed along the margin of slopes. The question then,
The mode of descent to the mountain toe. All the while,
You busy yourself in the exact measure of miles,
The crawl of time, the possible spill of after-
Noon into evening, while I repurpose my sight to the con-
Ference of firs, their lesions of blight, and the notch’s
Gentle slants, like hammocks on which Summer reclines. 

Decided, at last, to hike down the path, we embark  
The journey down; from a tip of cloud, near the crown
Where an observatory stands, along the steep decline
Disobedient in its twine, fraught with square rocks,
Dimpled cheeks of fauna mushrooms, dried sockets
Of lakes, to, at last, the motor way; your pale skin,
A glossary of sweat, under your t-shirt, conspicuously wet,
As you lead the path through brackets of Nature’s unimaginable
Wonder, maneuvering, in your head, the directions, following
Only the preserved imprints of dead rivulets.

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