Lilley Mountain

Standing on a lonely hillside
Distant views in the blowing breeze
Hills ramble and roll
To the far off flattened expanse
Of the fruited valley below

Here on long embedded outcrops
One stands firm upon the earth
As thoughts are sparked
Drifted on the winds
Gazing upon the table tops

Inland seas and ghosted shorelines
Sparkling ever so gentle swells
Rolling in the sunlight
Appear to rise out of the mist
To vanquish the forest now planted
And replace with coastal graces

Seaside scrublands now wooded
With oak and inland pine
That have travelled and bloomed
From places and days of far off

Ocean breezes now dusted
Dried but with sweetened scents
Of hardwoods on the hillside
Heating in the slanting afternoon sun

At last I turn away
To return to the hollows in the rocks
Among manzanita brambles
And deer brush roots in the duff

Where views are much closer up
For there's a greater richness here
In the immersion of the deep woods
That far off thoughts cannot wash away