You Hike the Valley Alone
i think of you
now far away in a distant land we are separated by
more than
distance
you hike the valley of the shadow of death you do not stumble
like the
hike years ago in haversuepie arizonia
the descent was
straight down ten mile hike in that hot canyon
took most of the day
we passed the
mules that carried the mail coming and going
the dogs ran
alongside barking at their heels the mules' hooves
clattered on the
rocks the men yelled encouragement hoo! hoo!
the sun beat
down the canyon like an oven we stopped often
to rest in the
shade took our time slowly descending
deep into the earth
the village with
many trees protected by vertical rock walls cool at last
it is there we
witnessed dragonfly fire engine red silently waiting
as if for us
alone stared into our eyes we stared back
camped near the
falls emerald green water cascading over the rim
leaving all cares
above... on the last day we hiked most of the day
the hike had grown much
harder late in the afternoon the final push
back to our waiting
cars the trail seemed to go straight up days before
when we began we
hardly noticed the descent but the return assent
back to our waiting
lives was very difficult out of water
we stopped
often for short rests we found three bottles of water
gratefully we took
two we met a young man on the trail just beginning
the ten mile hike
into the canyon hot
as hell dressed in black
with black
parasol a definite spring in his step for all the world
he appeared to be
out for a stroll in a downtown park the canyon floor many hours
ahead
often wondered how
he did did he find his way
or did he turn
back for you there is no turning back
your heart is
strong though broken you hike the valley on your own
April 4, 2016
1 comment:
Very sad, hiking the valley of death alone. Heartbroken but strong, with such a difficult passage ahead.
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