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Hang Nest
by Kristina WoodhillHanging out with John Muir last week
we spoke of sugar pine marching
among granite boulder deposits,
long needled hands waving benedictions
over clear, cold Merced River ripples,
reflecting tiny ants climbing
up, up, up El Capitan, Half Dome,
carrying mental flags to plant;
traced with our fingers zigzags
alongside upper Yosemite Falls,
gushing modest autumn waters,
echoing pretty Bridal Veil's opposite wall;
we strolled meadow playgrounds below,
inviting grazing doe with twins,
heads alert just above browning grass,
unseen bear, warning signs emphatic,
scampering squirrels, mincing
meager lawns at Awahnee Hotel;
sierra gooseberry, flushed red,
soft bristled thumb-sized berries
burnished every single branch;
pine cones swelling at the thought
of joining autumn's cooling inception
nestling toward spring's warming conception,
all beamed on by John's bronzed face
holding his own, reading
present-day students' letters
with unseeing eyes, his spirit hands
guiding our feet along traverse
thousands of feet above and beyond.
10/19/2011
Posted on 10/20/2011
Copyright © 2024 Kristina Woodhill
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Ken Harnisch on 10/20/11 at 12:28 PM the park rangers in Yosemite should hang this in the visitor's station, Kristina...absolutely beautiful evocation of that park's grandeur and enduring beauty. |
| Posted by George Hoerner on 10/20/11 at 01:56 PM I hope to get there on my next trip west. You make it sound so inviting and pictures I've seen by Adams add to your write. Well done m'lady. |
| Posted by Shannon McEwen on 10/21/11 at 02:45 AM beautiful imagery, makes me want to be there! |
| Posted by Lori Blair on 10/21/11 at 05:28 PM Beautiful..your imagery always so much more than I could ever express..Wonderful work! |
| Posted by Laura Doom on 10/29/11 at 11:41 AM You had me on a research trip, Muir the starting point, end point the edge of a supervolcano [I travel far and light :] I can always rely on you to take me places I'd love to be lost in... |
| Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 11/13/11 at 12:23 AM So very inviting. Muir would be most appreciative of this tribute to Yosemite's attraction and to his vision of its magnificence. A place I have yet to visit and at this time in my life not likely to do so but surely would if the opportunity opened. |
| Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 12/01/11 at 01:54 AM Subject wise, as a life long nature nut, I thoroughly enjoyed this piece Kristine. Excellent poetics to deliver the message, including the three line stanza form and choice/arrangement of vocabulary. 10/10 rating in my books. A pleasure to read you again! |
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