We flowed Big Muddy to stark, bouldering
Pinnacles, scaled its nougat-gnarled portal
to flat-breast crest, gazed west at smoldering
dusk revealing our mortal-immortal
essence. Our shoulders touching with crutching
gravity, supporting one another’s
weight like quivering peaks, our breath clutching
late July’s broiling air, we two lovers
softly hummed some wordless chorus we heard
small children chant while circling a campground
south of Columbia. That mockingbird
mimicking us must have known how we found
each other those years ago: Our stunned eyes
mirrored dawn burning dark night to sunrise.
Roger Armbrust
July 28, 2010
