Follow the crooked ridge
Here's a path in an open book
a story
a score
with few bifurcations
read forward
then backward
a crab canon
a moderately embellished climax
involving a locked tower
shaking with each interrogation
a walkthrough
monotonic almost
punctuated by minor switchbacks
a few hours
on slowly drained legs
through the tickets though
lies the unfathomable plotline
the loom and gloom
the smeared out smoke
of clouds
of mountain range
a tap on the shoulder
reader,
attention to the chorus of the leaves
a crescendo of an approaching drizzle
a soft hum in your ears
on your face
A cliff
like a death wish
hides behind lowered curtains
an invitation
a destination
a mountain
is a book.
- 2/23/2023 in Asheville, after a drizzly hike in the great smoky mountains.