AUGUST SNOWSTORM IN THE SIERRAS

AUGUST SNOWSTORM IN THE SIERRAS

As I gain elevation leaving the valley floor
Water drips from the rocks
And collects in pools
And ripples along sandy, pathways
Light juts out from behind a cliff

and penetrates the valley floor

My vibram soles cup soft

Against the rocks. 

Rain turns to snow

Moss needs little light 

My pack weighs too much. 

My shoulders are familiar 

As the backs of horses

August 1982


first draft 

Water drips from the rocks 

collects in pools 

and ripples along sandy pathways
Light juts out from behind a cliff

It penetrates down to the valley floor 

Moss needs little light 

my pack weighs too much 

my shoulders are familiar 

as the backs of horses

My vibram soles cup

soft against the rocks 

rain turns to snow

As I gain elevation 

and leave the valley floor 

I am afraid of this August snowstorm 

and of the cold.

1/82

From the pre-eletronic days of yore. I don't know the specific date. I didn't keep a proper journal that year. What was I thinking, writing on random scraps of paper? Anyway, I finally found my folders of first drafts, and revisions—in most cases, what is posted is the sole surviving version of some of these poems. Rarely is there a clean copy of this old work, which means I abandoned most my old writing by the time I owned a PC, in the late 1980s.  I think less than ten poems made it to the electronic era.

What a difference a computer made in the process of revision. I was never a 10-fingered  typist, I use about 4 or 5 fingers a any given time, and I look at the keys. Glorified hunt and peck system—even after all these decades.

added 10/16