Do You Remember?(edit)

[brynmawr1]

Do you remember?
 
In the fit of our youth,
we traversed the the Appalachian Trail.
Backs weighted by packs loaded with promise
sure-footed we strode over rock and root
putting winding green miles under our boots
hiking above and beyond.
 
The clearing, five miles in, offered
the eagle’s eye view of the valley below.
The expanse, larger than a single memory,
invited our breath to play.

Our two-person tent pitched,
orange against the white of peeling bark.
Nights we drank deep the firelight,
its flickering shadow cast against
a canopy of trembling leaves, we slept
drunk on the hum of stars, our heart beat.
 
Beyond the rough rock of the precipice
the fertile dark of an opaque future 
stretched into the valley's depths, where
an unexpected night harvest of phosphor flowers
bloomed for us far below.
 

Do you remember
 
In the fit of our youth, how
we hiked the Appalachian Trail?
Backs weighted with loaded packs
sure-footed we strode over rock and root
putting winding miles under our boots
traversing above and beyond care.
 
Do you remember
 
The clearing, five miles in, offering
the eagle’s view of the valley below.
Our two-person tent pitched
among the peeling bark of white
birch.  Those nights we drank deep
the firelight, its flickering shadow cast
against a canopy of trembling leaves, we slept
drunk on the hum of stars, our heart beat.
 
Do you remember
 
We sat on the rough rock of the precipice.
At our feet, the fertile dark of an unknown future 
stretching into the valley's depths, where
an unexpected night harvest of phosphor flowers
bloomed for us far below.