12/03/2011
Kearsarge Mountain
Climbed Kearsarge today
Legs like heavy glass bottles
Full of strong sad liquor,
Stomach empty as November’s plans.
You would have been happy to take breaks with me,
Pretending to smoke cigarettes with your fingers,
Blowing imaginary rings into the shape of a couch.
Continue, continue
Look at the yellow markers on the trees’ bark,
Painted there by responsible, upstanding citizens of the trail,
You would have compared them to tattoos or neon signs,
And plotted later to paint your own face sunny
To cheer me out of a cloud, or to
Simply play the role of O’Brighten, Hugh
At the peak decide
Whether to be a child of the sky ~
Sometimes it seems much better
To return to water, trickle between rocks,
Coat roots, wince and shrink,
Freeze for a season, something very pure and hurt.
You would have liked the way the sun shone today.
