The Architect

we hike on wooden legs
through labored gulps & pouring sweat
one step at a time

if we could, we would roll down muddy
mountain slopes, pebbles crashing on cascade 
we hike on wooden legs 

against majestic giant trees & rocks
nestling in silent hymns, we take in the vista-
through labored gulps & pouring sweat

canvas of green, dotted hills, lair of forest-
the panoramic view at the top, we swoon
one frame at a time  

Mountains of Alberta, Canada

From my summer album of 2017

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Cascade Poetics hosted by Amaya.   Our prompt tonight asks you to incorporate the word "cascade", or reflect on its metaphysical properties and what it means in life, or write a shape poem showing us a picture of a cascade. And, even though we're not technically "Meeting the Bar" tonight with a set form, a bonus challenge is to write a cascade form poem with however many stanzas you choose. 

Ode to mountains

Photography:   Petros Koublis

we hike along your
slopes, rugged against forest's belly
in early sunrise-
though you reek of slim pickings
our teeth sinks into you
like meat,  we're wolves,
                                            famished
like seeds, we're birds,
                                            lost

we pause on top
your crown is gutted by wind 
& sluiced by countless thunder storms
you sometimes bellow with fire
every 100 years or so,
yet steadfast do we rest
on your shoulders, mud-carved
with carrying a million spruce
                                                     trees
with burying a million more grave
                                                     pits


we begin our descent
to hoots of geese & flight of swallows
passing by wheat & corn fields
by sundown-
our nostrils heavy with sap
& our arms, light of
                                    air
& our feet, sated with 
                                    sands



Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Summit in Sight, by guest prompter, Lynn.   Join us when the poetry pub opens at 3pm EST.