Ridgeline
Once I had emptied myself
And carried my longing into the wood,
All the joy and sorrow went
And dreams and passions turned granite gray;
Lichen on stone they had clung.
Cold it felt but was no wonder;
I left someone on the trail here,
Perhaps someone I used to know,
But the memory vague and indistinct
Lead me off the trail I'd known
Until at last on a razor ridge I stopped
Standing against a sky full of forever,
Breathing such purpose as I had
In and out like so many faces.
Then suddenly the moment passed;
The branches bent in the wind
And I honored their perfume with silence
Grateful I could not remember.
