cloud clears

from the tops

and we slip

the boulders lee

arrayed below

edging locks

and burns

waits an army

in full song

their battle hymn

diesel engines

rising wind

that catches

lost limbs

from torsos

rough trimmed

where the water

runs brown

like tea

and not

a single bird sings

and the silence

flattens time

makes you long

for night

the stars

and deer leap

from the pine

to be broken

by cars