Crouching beside the salt marsh,
Snow curtains concealing the Promotories,
The lake, wind-blown glistening silver—
Clumped cloud layers thinning westward
To a choked and muted sunset.

This brine marks the end—
Castings of concentrated earth
Where water ascends heavenward
And the Bear River dies—
White salt signifying the tomb.

The gale screams in rusting barbed wire;
Water birds shriek hymns of Winter's
Hand on warm Spring's breast;
I suck salinity in with my breath
And walk eastward into the Night.

04/11/2005

Author's Note: A Salt Lake meditation

Posted on 04/12/2005
Copyright © 2024 Leonard M Hawkes