Stratum

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Gliding down a shoot
                           The river’s smooth tongue pulls
                           Us into leaping haystacks where
                           Cold water curls and cascades
                           Splashing our faces, drenching our bodies.

                     

On the other side of riffles and cobbled rocks
                      We slap the boatman’s back: relax, laugh.

                     

The green mile wraps it lovely arms
                         Around boulders, downstream
                         In the canyon agave flowers “pup” out rosettes
                         And at dusk, the sacred white Datura blooms.

                 

 

I watch Lauren row in a subtle, delicate manner
  Reading the water, finessing hydraulics, dodging boat- sucking holes.
         She is at home and bound to her boat with a calm and
  Passion, only a Grand Canyon boatwoman knows.

                 

In this ancient terrain, I cannot grasp the vastness, or
                  The magnitude of time in the millions of years echoed in
                  Layers of rock, cliffs and slopes.

                               

I can only make a grand sweep of my hand,  majestically                                                        Across the land and say
                                A masterpiece of this scale, the desert, mountains
                                River, are uplifting gifts of deep mystery, history

                         

And the memories we made here, exist now…but will                                disappear

                                  
         Like rain that evaporates
                                  Before reaching the ground.




7 thoughts on “Stratum”

  1. Oh, do try to make it happen. The food is excellent, the guides top-notch, and the landscape simply breathtaking. Go with AZRA: Arizona Raft Adventures in Flagstaff

    1. I agree, it was a wonderful experience, descending into the canyon, and for me opened up the reality of geological “deep time” plus … the other plus was to share the experience and jaw dropping views with the best of friends. And now we get to relive these experience here. I also loved the hike out.

  2. What a fabulous experience. And the processing of the photos is perfect — the vintage postcard feel helps to establish the timelessness of the experience.

  3. Crazy but I hardly take my big bulky (and expensive!) SLR camera with me anymore…you can do so much with the IPhone, and the editing apps are fabulous. Another new learning curve, though. Thanks, Linda.

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Welcome to the creative playground of Image, Sculpture, Verse.  I live in a river town nestled in the Chugach Mountain Range of Southcentral Alaska.

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