Master mountain sighs his enormity
weeps in small gullies at the weight he holds,
despairs of immensity, too big to hold himself
mountain shifts, avalanche of granite and schist
slate sliding down to a clear glacial stream.
Yet he holds his head high, shoulders snowbound,
chest draped in tundra splendour
felt-leaf willow, orange splattered with reds
autumn cranberries, creeping greys,
at your feet the yellow aspen quake
and Master Mountain shimmers in gold.
In Autumn your peaks tear up the clouds
they fall lace-like, listlessly down your chest
a shawl covering the season’s demise.
Basalt and granite faults, cracks in your sides
reveal the hidden life within
moulded in muteness
Master Mountain, locked in your hugeness
so long ago the deafening eruption
now silenced, you dream of your final explosion.