Pushed up from the crust’s movements,
or spewed from the hot belly of the earth’s core,
mountain ranges form a spine,
the bones of continents.
Cloaked in tree and bush
except on the highest peaks,
when one travels there
elevation yields a holy revelation.
They house a wonderland of life,
woven into a fortuitous web of drama
and interdependence,
predator and prey,
wolf and deer, bear and fish,
hawk and rabbit, cougar and goat.
Sapphire sky arcs over new snow melt
pounding down gorges, over precipices,
down hillsides into rock-strewn ravines,
finally easing into rivers in the flatlands.
Tension and serenity to be had here,
spirits in the trees,
gathered in nature’s symphony,
the music of God.