Under the Delta Skies

Summer in the Alaskan interior
Is like a long, lazy afternoon
Where the sun lingers in the sky
With the fervor of eternity

Long life and the everlasting
Internal energy recycled and rejuvenated
Flowing like waves in an ever increasing tide
All throughout the immortal daylight
Put to rest only by the once a week all day rains

Where time washes away
No wristwatch
Before cell phones
No clock upon the wall

The endless summer of life at 21
Spent amongst the far northern boreal
Forest and creek side and swampland
Beaming and brimming with energy

Aspen make themselves known first
Appearing on the edges and borders
Leaves dancing in the summer breeze
Illuminating muted sunlight
From within each flickering pale green flame

Two horses picketed along the edge
I'd walk by a dozen times or more
One all white as the aspen
The other white with the golden hair of sunshine

How friendly and content they seemed
Grazing grasses and herbs
On the edge of the forest
As the aspen enjoyed the wind's eases

In the muted light of the understory
Labrador tea mixed fragrance with rose hips
Proudly they cantilevered above
Thick carpets of sphagnum so soft to the step

Occasionally a moose would run through
Crashing down trees in its escape
Seeming to run in fear
Of my footfalls along the path

Deeper in spindly black spruce
Mixed in with contrast
Sometimes forming darkening thickets
Where mosquitoes buzzed ferociously

There they would hide from the wind
And shunning the never ending light
They would gang up for a drink
Constant as the sun in the sky

Alaska

Resting regal at the top of the world

With her crown of gold and wintery robes

Of silvery armor as hard as ice

That keeps the rest of the world at distance

Armor that shimmers brilliance under the western sun

Locking in the frigid cold of the north

As the heat of the south surrounds her walls

Knocking harder with each passing year

Occasionally she'll hold conference

With the chiefs of the east

Signing treaties of faith and abundance

Which she is praised without end for

As she is the ice queen of the earth

In all her majesty and mysticism

Conjuring rough hewn visions of freedom for some

And spells of death for the unworthy

The naysayers who broke their treaties

Who barged in riding fast with guns blazing

Showing their true selves in the low rising light

Only to be shown no mercy at their ignorance

For death comes quickly in the cold

For the unprepared who enter the kingdom

Seeking treasure buried under her waters

Not knowing her wrath doled out upon their souls

But with each passing break up

A few more linger in the valleys 

Settling in for their durations of hardships

Proving worthy of their promises

With this she rewards them with her riches

And shares her endlessly enduring beauty

Which grows within them more and more

And surrounds them in luxurious furs

Until they are warm and content

And thankful for all she provides

They become her followers of the north

And realize why she sits atop the world

The Tracker Pack

When questions arise
About this or that
About why or why not
Or how or how not to

The keepers of the flame respond
In offhand ways of truth and reason
Of not how or why not
But of the meanings under the rocks

Under the grasses and duff
Under the layers of gravels and soils
Beneath the roots of the questions
To show another perspective in the deep

That the answers lie down within
Behind the questions themselves
Showing why they are asked in the first place
And where initially they arise from

For what is perspective without a basis
What is a basis without knowing
What is knowing without trials
And what are trials without Doing

One must actually Do
Before an opinion is made
Before a judgment is handed down
Unethically without a trial

The keepers of the flame know this
For they do not shun the truth into ashes
But rather tend to the coals of reason
And build fires to light the way

They travel alone in the wilderness
Walking nameless throughout the valleys
Across the plains and marshes of quagmire
And the deserts of the burning sands

They search out the paths less travelled
That lead to the high mountain rendezvous
Where they gather together in times of need
To blaze the coal into flame

This is the role they play in the game
The knights of the blades of doubt
Who rally in defense of the truth
Like musk oxen when the wolves surround

The Marble Mountains

I have seen where waters seep
From the cracks in the rock
High upon the mountainside
With no meadow to give forth

Where the early morning light
Kind from a chill autumn morn
Shines golden upon the canyon walls
Lighting high mountain lanterns in the pines

Sun plumped pine cones glowing
Gemstones of dragon fire in the dew
Sparkling new brilliance ringing the marble halls
As the fiddles tenderly echo their serenades

Folded forested mountain canyons
Radiate outward towards the horizons
Like emerald curtains hanging at rest
Above the lands of the sawyers' gold

Folds from plates crashing below
And waters running tirelessly above
Creases as random as crumpled up paper
Tossed upon the earth with disregard

Waters springing from crystal fountains
Mystical in their origins and place
Or held in lush adorning meadows
Slow to trickle down the slopes

Relief still given after long summer's gone
Kept safe and cool for these dry times
Life bestowed in wilderness depths
To keep the impurities at bay

Islands of gleaming white stone
Resting upon an endless sea of green
The Marbles and the Trinitys
Where rivers are forged in the sun

I think back to them on occasion
Jeweled pools in emerald crags
Cool and green mossed in the shade
Refreshing to say the least

The Groves That Time Forgot

Children playing in the woods
Their sounds not matched by others
In their eyes the pure vision of their enjoyment
As they see the forest in a new light

Shaded but not in shadow
Soft beams filter through from above
Illuminating in the muted glow of winter
New pathways among old giants

Islands of ancient groves
That time forgot to drag along with it
Left in their mountainous cathedrals
To march along in gospel processions

Their praises of immortality to Christ
Who spoke to them when they were children
Seem to wash away sorrows and grief
As one stands among them

Listening to their words of ancient stories
Of grace and stillness in the deep
One can hear the echoes through time
That reverb about the incense filled halls

We wade our ways through these giants
As our ancestors smile from above
New light shining on old furrows
And the waves in the grains roll ever on

Camp Creek Winter Rendezvous I

In this life we scratch and claw
Search the stream beds for diamonds and gold
Risk life and limb in frigid torrents
Wash pans of played out gravel
Time and time again

It's the unfortunate way and means
For survival in a cruel world
Forever consuming our precious time
In the never ending search for the hills of El Dorado

But once in a while we put down the gold pans
And exchange them for ones of nourishment
We leave the rivers to run their own course for a while
Letting the sluices run dry in the sun

And we journey above the hills of gold
Where the wealth giving mountain streams trickle
In a softer flow under pillows of ice
Quieting the mind in its slow embrace

Shrugging off reasoning for constant assurances
We settle down to the simple things
Good food, good company
Tall tales and short stories
And revel in the comforts of the campfire

Smoked pheasant and homemade sausage
Baked bannock and warmed tortillas
Followed the next morning
By potatoes and more sausage
With newly plucked eggs
Thick bacon and coffee
Topped off with cinnamon rolls
Fresh from the camp ovens

Lunch being skipped as the breakfast held us over
Until the night's feast of tri-tips and more bannock
Mashed potatoes with beef stew and stroganoff
And peach cobbler done up nice and juicy

It's these golden moments in life
That aren't within the sluices below
Can't be plucked from the swift flowing streams
Nor mined from the hillsides

But sometimes they're found
In deep running veins
Exposed to the mountain sunlight
Above the hills of El Dorado

Camp Creek Winter Rendezvous II