somewhere above Telluride, Colorado
If you close your eyes and just breathe in,
then it’s sixteen years ago and we’re off the trail
roaming through damp autumn woods.
The duff is soft with needles, moss,
and the air is scented with resinous spruce—
fresh and woodsy, tangy, bright.
Sun filters into the evergreen glade
to kiss the clearing with light. Remember, love?
Whatever dreams we brought in with us,
they, too, came to smell of earth, forest,
musk and shade. The mountains
had their way with us that day.
We said little, but by the time we left,
shadow-drunk and gloriously map-less,
everything had changed.
“Whatever dreams we brought in with us,/they, too, came to smell of earth, forest,/musk and shade.”
Awesome line. It does so much.
Evocative poem. Hopefully, each of us carries a memory of that one specific incredible day/moment, after which, “everything had change.”
oh friend, that day I remember it so well. how everything changed that day … whatever I thought i knew about my life was changed
“shadow-drunk and gloriously mapless…”
such a fabulous way to be ❤️
The conclusion with the mountains, and being “shadow-drunk and gloriously map-less,” is especially appealing. A delightful way to express how it was (can be) toward the end of day.
sooo lovely to lose sense of the map and know only *here*
Gloriously unplugged from google maps, ‘gone walkabout’ stealing another regions term.
“gone walkabout”–yes, exactly!