the high country in August
hiking within the high country of the Smokies
can have a magic
that can elevate the spirit
as surely as the body.
trails through the rain-invigorated spruce-fir forest
reveal more shades and universality of green
than we can hold easily in our hearts:
moss everywhere, lichens, profusions of flowers,
for it is August now,
high summer for the high lands,
the National Park Service has worked hard
to hep the trails resist the degrading of erosion
and fit the steps to what foot and leg can handle,
today the Appalachian trail was incredible:
a knife-edge of vertical strata,
of uplifted sedimentary boulders
and igneous quartz intrusions,
views to right and left jump out at us
while valleys and peaks assert who they are,
not daunted by the higher slops where we are,
today is of summits:
physical, botanical, experiential,
this day is of dreams and of light.
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