the mountain looks old today
under its thin blanket of snow
valley sounds vanish
in a hush of wind
shadows sharpen
only to wink out
one tall black cherry
split open along a twist
groans and mutters
like a humpbacked whale
between the clouds
the unobtainable abyss
all the while the half-
thawed earth is surfacing
my feet start to slide on slush
and continue into mud
later a gravid moon
brings light without heat
one way to evade the grim
machinery of the stars