toward Grapeyard Ridge
yesterday a valley opened itself to me,
part of Greenbrier, the watershed
of the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River,
I have started down it several times from the Appalachian crest,
I followed an old manway down and down
until a maintained trail revealed itself,
much easier to follow than the earlier rock cairn marked passage,
today we followed old logging ways
that snake up and down ridges, along small streams
that tok some rock-hopping to cross,
often the trail was beguiling tunnel
within overarching rhododendron,
enchantingly dappled with flashes of golden sun,
the valley softy echoing the many families
who farmed a living out of these valleys,
a bear's world touched ours twice,
the still hot air pulled so much sweat from me
that we chose a 5 miles experience
over another mile or so,
I feared donating even more liquid to the journey,
I was pleased that my muscles, heart, and lung fitness
allowed me to move across the earth
with ease, with appreciation,
with joy in the moments allowed
this valley returns to what nature does
without the harsh hand of our mastery,
taking more from the world than it wants to give,
I imagine 50-100 years from now
that this valley will return to close
to what the Indigenous peoples knew
and to what the pioneers first saw,
the woods today hint what will then be shouted.
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