I forgot how cold winter can be.
Alaska in November — fifteen degrees.
Out of the overheated house with its windows,
down the snowy driveway across Wilderness Drive.
Up the bank into open space, no trees.
There they are — assembled in perfect view,
Pioneer Peak and her sisters.
Huge and jagged — rising white and gray and blue.
The camera works well in this crystal air,
clicking, shuttering — the vista freezes.
Mountains still in the camera’s eye, still in the world.
Back inside — fingers ache as they warm.
©Marty Williams, 2011
Marty works with the Bay Area Writing Project to create spaces for teachers to be writers together. An affiliate of the Amherst Writers and Artists, Marty uses AWA methods to lead writing workshops and retreats. She has published in literary magazines and in Bearing Witness: Poetry by Teachers About Teaching (Zephyr Press).
January 23, 2012 at 8:49 pm
Brrrr…
And beautiful.