In Geologic Times


 

I had a vision

of Half Dome

half done,

shrouded

in oak scaffolding.

 

Squinting my eyes,

I noted little stocky men

on the net of hardwood

toothpicks

with rosy cheeks and

beards like their bellies,

chiseling away at the granite.

 

Looking at all that scaffolding,

I thought of how few trees

were here when

the conquerors came, then

I thought, well,

these guys did it!

 

But I inquired of one of them

(as he stopped to hand me a beer)

with regard to the glaciers,

how they had carved out so much of this.

 

He asked me if these "glaciers"

were a kind of elf.

 

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