My feet started walking
then faster, a turn here a turn there
and I am climbing a mountain…
Dark luscious trees guard me from the cold wind
when a path appears, jagged, leading in five directions
I chose the narrow one, the neglected one
Lost in my mental confusion
I turn the barrel and march forward
digging fingers in the mud as I cling to
branches and boulders climbing above the clouds
Standing atop this mountain
needing to go higher
through the maze unseen but trusted to lead the way
There is sun, then heat, wind
black clouds laid over white
storm clouds twirling with blue
but I turn the barrel again
the deep gray rains down on me
as I remain a boy laughing, inches from the sky
One mountain becomes four
becomes seven, becomes fifteen,
like walking in place as the earth rotates
multiplying reflections of various cities
in just a few moments
as the barrel continues to turn
A few rocks fall out of the wall
and I watch them slowly disappear, reappear
then gone again, devoured by color and light
Eyes to the sky,
black to blue
green to blood red
all become braided prismatically before my very eyes
as the viewfinder exposes a city-wide rainbow
end to perfect end, encroaching on me
then washing over my path with a motley overload of all creation
Turn the barrel, reset the mirrors, open eyes
and the path ends
I rest, trying to understand this dimension I have just climbed into
the only human for miles as the vultures circle overhead,
perfectly patterned
as if we exist only as someone’s toy
And if I am just a piece of a game, then I cannot fall…
Nice and slow…
Turn the barrel, open eyes
and I now am crawling where paths do not dare go
sweating ice
wind holding me in place against this thousand foot wall
keeping me alive
breathing, meditating
colors raging by faster and faster
Nice and slow…
The closer to the goal, the faster it seems to spin
until I slip
rainbow to red, light to blackout
the dark clouds of Sauron billowing towards me
from another mountain which appears from the mist
Turn the barrel, faster and faster
muscles searing with pain clothes filthy body soaked
I march on, forward,
towards or away I will never know
until I reach the summit
…and the air disappears;
silence lays over this ocean and land
meditating
more quiet than silence itself
as if the game is over
toy in box
lid closed
I feel the barrel turn
once more
as the sun peeks at me
once more,
satisfied to end this spontaneous journey,
our appreciations admirably mutual.
As I make my descent,
I am saturated
empty with peace
filled with the truth of the natural world
released from want
from desire
We often create kaleidoscopes to see
the wonder that can come of light and mirrors
and all I needed to do
all along
was just climb a mountain
af
(written with pen on paper)
So, Audrey is awesome and got 15 poems from me. This is the first, a long tale about a hike that I had in my recent trip to Los Angeles. I enjoyed writing Audrey’s poems because she gave me some tricky topics to cover. First up, Kaleidoscope…
THANK YOU!!!! I Am Grateful!!!