Odes to Colorado

"Spring comes, together with a rush of feelings.
I go, alone, to knock at a grotto's gateway." – Ching An, "On the Road: A Spring Day at Ling-Feng"











4/27


A cold April rain blocks the way to sunny trails.
The daffodils have bowed to the ground defeated.

As the Yahara water rises it climbs the banks:
the rocks grow dark by hairy moss underneath.

Off in the distance of the mind
There are the still mountains of the Rockies
burning like white embers under an afternoon sun.

I am walking through a cloud of bear's breeches.
Alpine yarrow is up the crevasse out of reach.

By the time I come to the end of cabin trail
at Sylvan Lake just outside the town of Eagle
the rain has ceased, the daffodils awake.