ON THE MOUNTAIN

by Grant Carrington



It was on the mountain that I met him
It was on the mountain
horizon rising to meet and engulf the sun
towhees scratching among the leaves
chewinking themselves to sleep

He shared his speckled fire with me
tossing out
stars
leaves
air
and water
which I gobbled greedily
and asked for more

I had searched for him all my years
I had searched
in squares
back alleys
city streets
small towns
rivers
and jungles

And it was on the mountain

while searching for the small boy
again
I found
him

And while Orion fought his way across the sky
he showed me how to make diamonds of my moments
And when the thrushes sang forth the dawn
and the woodsmoke of our fire was just
air among the branches
he walked down the mountain
inside me

Copyright 1999. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Duplication of this poetry without permission of the author is forbidden under copyright law. Please ask permission if you wish to use it for non-commercial purposes. PROSECUTORS WILL BE VIOLATED.


WALLPAPER is Mount Fuji from Mishima-goe by Hokusai Katsushika (1760-1849), copied from http://www.trail.com/~finnian/hokusai/24views.htm">www.trail.com/~finnian/hokusai/24views.htm (no longer on the internet)

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