Rays shine truer above
these craggy, leaden peaks,
their snowy rivers pleating
the formidable crest.
Shoulder to shoulder they fill
miles with their antiquity —
roughly torn from earth’s flesh
before human was even thought,
shrugging off ice-worlds,
wind’s clenched teeth.
They face the sky and wait.
Down the highway along the horizon
hunkered hills (black, lava-pocked)
huddle and consider
the startling copper range
smooth beyond road’s bend.
To the north, gatherings: oblong boulders,
the giant’s hand — skewed
tan pyramids balancing
in wonder.
They face the sky and wait.