For miles, Mountains

Mountains trim the plain

as bark does the fallen plank

sap bleeds from wooden vein

like the frozen river runs south

 

For miles, paw prints

scurrying and limping off

Trudging through the permafrost

Something sharp meets something soft

Scampering to the river’s mouth

 

For miles, running

Past reclining fermented log

Through the ponds and through the frogs

Under the frozen waterfall’s fog

Into the cavern up north

 

For miles, deep

Underneath the rooted Earth

Hibernates life that needs a hearth

But mercy costs more than it’s worth

Here it lies praying for warmth.

 

For Miles, Mountains

Do not forgive-  And Miles,

They know how to get you best

When you expect it least