Mono Hot Springs, CA

 

Birthed

from the truck bed

onto granite slab

river stone

smooth of the South

 

Fork of the San Joaquin

Up a dirt road

to Kaiser Pass

I rise

the way mountains are made

 

and still

Before us Bear Dome

Devil’s Table

place names

familiar faces

 

As the asters open

the orchids and arnica

milkweed and lupine

my friends and I

gather

 

dusk

We put down our rucksack

and tin cup and talk

Nighthawks

sew a rough hem

 

where water is vapor

is liquid

I hear the trout

are good

and rainbow

 

The pools linked

by footprints

See how we went

to Old Pedro

to Little Eden

 

above the one

on the bank

its soft walls

washed away

merging cold warm

 

Swirl and sound

of hands to hide

drum circle

a Miwok tribe

at the campground

 

with their fire

unfolding

I can

evening primrose

petals pop and twist

 

Ursa major

and me a mirror

naked

and steaming

on rock

 

I dreamt

through the night

black bear

by my side

My friends tell it

 

to memory

A shadow

came “this close”

to her

awakening