I Watch the Mountains

I watch the mountains prune themselves
and imagine they cannot debunk the gossip
 of seasonal demands and expectations
It is cold this morning and they are my apostles,
tuning the sun and rending leaves
I wish I could find the holy places;
the sanctuaries of love and grief
gone now down to rock
I am an amateur at life and bounded
by a forgiving nature
that secures a grasp of small things
but leaves me open to deception
The mountain prunes me to an acceptance

If I could find the holy places
I imagine there would be women,
much like myself, and biting a bottom lip,
shading their eyes and watching
feelings dip and sway ~
each claiming a ribbon of sun and singing
to distract the strikes of lightning,
always hidden in these mountains
and brighter than the friendly day

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i like this poem lots...

seems an analogy of relationships to religion...we want to believe what we want to believe...that we can take refuge in another, shelter in another...but like the mountains hide things...there is deception...we can ignore it and look on the bright side, turn the other eye, turn the other cheek..or just bite our lip...and put up with it.

much could be read into this...a very fine poem indeed.

jacob

[Phibby Venable]

thank you, Jacob, for your fine comments

[Michael G.]

Excellent write.
If there is one thing I miss not living "on the mountain" anymore, it's the quiet walks and turning a corner and seeing wide, deep vistas. Truly, a place where God must rest and relax.
You've painted the mountains I remember so well here. You may well have already found your holy place.

[Ken Simm.]

If a poem could be said to Arch, this does. It too reaches summits.

[Phibby Venable]

Big hug thank you, Ken!

[Samuel Dickens]

Holy places, sanctuaries, places to be pruned in the right way--indeed, mountains are wonderful and magestic.

[Phibby Venable]

thank you, Sam, have a warm day!

[Ed Hart]

there's my Phibby

[Phibby Venable]

waving from the mountain! xxx

[Emerald Seas]

Beautiful, Phibby! I so enjoy reading your work. It is full of life each and every time.

[Phibby Venable]

thank you, sending a warm hug of gratitude