the hike

i have seen mountains collapse

but the soil remain

waiting for you to come down

from above the clouds

that were just going

to wave blue goodbyes

and eventually find the understated mountains

unmade and embarrassed

by being undone

until they turn one then two anew

three then eighteen

with green waters streaming

into trees that grow tall enough

to thank those clouds again

with a light tickle on hazy

laughing days

the same gray

that made the mountains crumble

in the first

and last

place

the same daze

that made you start the retreat

to the terrible top

only to see the usually unseen white brains of the sky

thoughtlessly stumped onto the world