by Frank Possemato
Kilimanjaro
towers over language
outweighs
forcing a name
to rise up
to its own weight
In New Hampshire
the Presidential Range
Mount Washington of record-breaking wind
is our biggest
(smaller ones
named for smaller presidents)
and before that is was named
for the spirit in the storm
and before that
it just was
(a new name for each visitor
And none on record)
I pick just one,
any,
and name it for my
dad now
A sunbeam outlasts
us all
Chocorua
the Rockies
The Grand Tetons
The Andes
The Alps
The Great Dividing Range
A speck of sun
eight minutes to get here
after a hundred thousand years
waiting its turn
to escape
A ray breaks through
moves the bird’s eye
remembers
how you smiled
when you saw
these mountains
records our names
in
wood, stone, wind
these basic ingredients
of our heritage.
Category: Poetry, SNHU Creative Writing, SNHU online creative writing