The weather had turned,
naturally
reminding us how
the fragility of a summer day,
now lost in the cold mountain rain,
can shift our intentions,
change our plans,
alter our course,
like the slow, steady melt
of glacial ice
now intensified
by the deluge which fell
 
The clouds hung
no lower than before
yet now, heavy laden
and blown across these
majestic peaks
they shrouded them from view;
a dark, gloomy, floating mass
in themselves
gloriously providing
a cloak of drama and intrigue
 
We sought shelter there
in the lodge
enjoying the warmth and comfort
provided by its glowing fire,
like so many others
who had also shied away
from their mountainside ventures
 
A chance meeting
along some mountain trail,
now again by chance
among the many taking refuge here,
leads to light conversation
and as impromptu as the soft notes
played upon the corner piano
a new friendship is kindled,
the chords of which
may have only just
begun to be composed 
 
And as the clouds continue
their silent, misty sojourn
I can only watch and wonder
what other spirits may
have passed here before, 
departed friends
 

08/31/2008

Author's Note: August 31, 2008 - Many Glacier Hotel, Glacier National Park, Montana (with thanks and fond memories to Larry, Karen, and Katie Davis)

Posted on 09/08/2008
Copyright © 2024 David R Spellman