Shadows in the sky
Where the sun
And the clouds
And the smoke
Interplay
Where the river
And the rails
Run in parallel
Display
Where I
Sit on the banks
And reflect
On the immensity of time
In the Bow Valley
Older than men
Storm Mountain
Banff National Park
Alberta, Canada
Banff National Park
Alberta, Canada
Taken during travels, yesterday, 2017
Forest fires rage throughout British Columbia and Alberta. Depending on prevailing wind patterns, the smoke blankets thousands of square miles, reaching hundreds of miles from the source. It billows out of the Rocky Mountains through Banff’s Bow River valley, visible from as far away as Calgary.
I’m not sure if this picture would be prettier without the smoke. It would certainly be clearer.
The final two stanzas are a reference to the sense of “ancientness” some places give me. The feeling that I am in a place that is alive, aware, has a wisdom beyond my ken, and sort of chuckles at the upstart intelligence of small self-important human creatures musing about matters they understand very little.
“At least”, the ancient wisdom reflects, if it notices me at all, “it enjoys what is pretty.”
Pix to Words 