Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Mounting a vocano April 6, 2024

  

You can’t mount a mountain

 like you can a volcano,

 each step up one risks

 a perilous fall,

 up the other scalding fingers,

blistering where they grip,

even though the landscape

 is much softer,

yielding as I press myself

 against it.

This is where mountain goats

go to rut;

 I am a goat in sheep’s clothing,

 wishing I was a wolf,

 aching to feel the vibrations

beneath me or as I climb,

stirred up in part by where I am

what I touch,

 a firm grip,

 a tender grip,

 taking me higher

 and deeper

 with each risky step

unaware of where I am,

on what (or whom) I have mounted,

 mountain or volcano

until the fumes appear

the heat to loosen my grip,

I do not know which

 until I feel the whole thing

begin to erupt

 by which time

it’s too late to stop.

 


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