Granite

Daylight breaks on the peaks and high rocks
Warming stone upon stone
Gleaming gems of black mica
Set in white quartz crystals
A whole mountain range of jewels
Radiate with the shimmering of fiery energy
Of being born in the inner mountain forges of long ago

Now sparkling abundance in the morning light
Still exposed from winter's tardiness
Where nighttime freezes sleep snows
Only among the shaded crevices
As the rocks wake up and rest easy
In the warmth of the growing sun

Lichens stretch awake with creaks and groans
Later in the lazy mid-day beaming rays
Unfurling along their outer bands
To spread slow over ages upon rocky holds
Clinging to the stone ever on
Not to be undone without reason

Here among the peaks the rocks wait
Poised and succumb to the deep silence
Of standing still in the breeze
Not to be moved by the high rock lizards
And marmot tricksters of shaded caves

Rock sparrows fly as arrows
Up, down, around, buzzing the high peaks
With a quick chirp and blinding speed
As to surprise and confuse any who stand witness
To their aerial acrobatics

On the eastern edge, the bighorn rams
Roam the airy rock precipices
In search of clinging grass tufts
And sweet high mountain succulents
Dried and dusted with desert views
And sweeping vistas all with the clang and chatter
Of stones strewn from above with trickle down echoes
And ricocheting crashes among the ramparts
Only to remain standing proudly
With sure footed substance
On regal toe holds far above their realm

And as the sun dips to the West
As dusk settles in the shadows
The peaks are last to remain
In sparkling orange and golden rose
Glowing as if of flames in the distance
Or campfires in the far off lakeside woods

The granite beams with the deep
Churning warmth of the day's lofty exposures
Waiting patiently as is its ways
For winter's snowy blankets to be laid to rest again