lifted in the mountains

 along the high trail

I lift up my body into the mountains

where rock holds against entropy, 

and water can dance down the platforms it makes,

where life can hold and soar its green spirit,

and center us in the perfection of a flower, a butterfly, 

a moose grazing, a fox hunting, a bear foraging,

I still love the pull of a high trail

that tests my body and lifts my spirit to soar.

by Henry H. Walker

July 26, ‘21