"On a Mountain Passage" by David Pring-Mill, Frequent Contributor

On a Mountain Passage

David Pring-Mill

At first we notice the strangeness of nature,

And then nature shows us the strangeness of ourselves.

Waterfalls are frozen, tinted blue;

Snow clings onto pine trees

in endless landscape.

Low-hanging clouds are lit purplish,

like motor oil puddles.

Wisps of snow twirl mysteriously

behind the tires of a Subaru

ahead of us on this narrow, winding road,

like the entrancement of Kaa,

as we approach the switchback.

Within hours, the cliff

and frozen lake dissolve

into memory.

The bizarre geography of buildings

overtakes this lucid dream called life,

and the soul is scattered

by an abundance of signs.

Poet’s Notes:  “On a Mountain Passage” is true to life, written on my phone in a quick, straightforward manner. The prose is accurate and unadorned; the images and colors happened as described. In that regard, it is almost more of a journal entry than it is a poem. The poem depicts a winter road, the return from wilderness to civilization, and the impressions made by that route.

Editor’s Note:  David had me here with the opening two lines--breathtaking!  Such crisp imagery, I felt like I was there in the car with him.