And Then the Mountain is Gone
-Hey, who put my mountain there? – Beth Faber
I make it as far as watching the mountain
man build door hinges from hand-hewn strips
of wood and then
I can’t watch anymore. Who knew
a PBS film crew would one day find him
curling wood, explaining the loss of white bark pine,
the compromise of grizzly food? I was meant to live
there, after all. At one time he knew the rain
on my brim; if I was watershed,
he was loyal catchment. But
this woman he came to love grew quiet, missing
in part, the sound of her own paint
brush, the pulse of white water
soaking into prairie floor.
So beautiful! ‘If I was watershed, he was loyal catchment’. Thats truley a painting, a song and a movie all rolled into one line.
Enjoy the New Year Sherry!
Irish word of the day…’Start’. Translates to ‘Good Day’.
kerry, oh i like that and so- “start” to you, too!
beautiful! happy new year sherry….love the photograph too…gosh it looks freezing, but merry – ish… x j
janelle, and a good new year to you, too. fresh and new. i think weather is whatever we get used to. most of the winter we tend to go around without coats.
Oh, lovely and quiet. And I love those Christmas lights, too.
kathleen, do you know i happened to drive past that same spot last night? january 17th and the fence was still lit up. loved it.
So lovely.
I am missing the sound of my own paintbrush also, thank you for this.
Beth’s quote works so well with it too I think. Gorge.
heh! i love when something is taken out of context and a new home is made for it. such is the case of beth’s line. and i miss the sound of YOUR paintbrush mucho much.
hey everybody loves their pendants. Thanks again for letting me give away your words.
“If I was watershed, he was loyal catchment”…that’s such a nice picture. This feels sad though. Why couldn’t you bring your paintbrush up to the mountain with you?
katy, oh i am glad everyone liked them! you can give away my words anytime! that was fun. and it is a good and a sad situation the watershed and catchment thing. but for some reason my paintbrush loses its inspiration when too long gone from the open prairie space. i think i just need more freedom than most relationships can offer, and so it’s one of those life things where two things you want can’t co-exist. accepting that has taken me some time.
thanks for sharing, sherry. hope all is well over there. how do you write with so much calm/composure?
i lurk around a lot – i check out your blog (and others’) whenever i log in…but i don’t comment much these days because…well, i almost feel like i’ve lost the ability to put my thoughts into words, or something.
nicolette, i’ve been thinking lots about your comment since i read it on my phone a few days ago. i am often saying to those closest to me “i don’t have my words”. fortunately, they’ve heard this before and for some reason haven’t avoided me when i get like that. something overcomes us? or for me- i am simply overcome. a state of being. all this to say, i relate. meanwhile, my calm? i lived so many years under a heavy thumb and my defense against that was to just stay calm and not react on the surface. like a duck on water. what we see above water is a duck’s calm. but underneath, the webbed feet are churning. and thank you for your help as we try to find my missing cousin.