They lay heavy
over the earth here once
hundreds of feet thick
Riding the eroded volcanic ridge
     Itself the ruin of millions year older
          Pyroclastic flows
Down from mountain crest
     Leaving
Rounded granite boulders
Larger than tables
Carried from 
Donner Peak, miles away
     Crumbs
To this ancient white monster
Scattered just below
Ridge's edge

Now it is pillar saint 
     Jeffrey Pine
flat-topped, limbs sculpted
Into grand upward gestures
Recumbent manzanita and huckleberry oak
Massive old Junipers
     Berries ready for harvest
Volcanic gargoyle pillars
     Carved into ridge's lee side
Conglomerate torsos, arches, fists
     ...And I, who am
Dancer on this parapet line
Between watersheds
     Yuba - American
Their long-lost ice streams
flowing still
as ghosts filling the open spaces
of wide canyon.


17 November 2019
Razorback Ridge-Crows Nest, 7,500-7,900'
High cirrus and blue sky