Mt. Cook
here in the flat valley, half-tree and half-savanna,
below snow-capped and precipitous Mt. Cook,
I feel struck dumb with awe,
plate tectonics and vulcanism
contorted gray rock to over 8000’ above us,
and here perches a luxurious hotel,
mated to a view that lifts the spirit up into it,
the last light of the setting sun
shines upon the last snowy peak,
I can like and appreciate subtlety,
but I love brash, abrupt mountains,
particularly when they rise fast and high
above gentle, contrasting verdant valleys,
a glacier still reaches down a neighboring slope,
as if in a hurry to reach the valley floor,
our eyes are in a hurry to reach the mountain top.
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| Mt. Tasman, just by Mt. Cook, source of the Tasman Glacier |
by Henry H. Walker
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