when i came here

may the new year bring you peace, companionship and adventure…may all beings be happy!

cropped-dawn-patrol-2.jpg

when I came here, I believed

it was the mountains that called,

 

and so they do – Dogen told us this

hundreds of years ago.

 

these mountains walk.

these blue mountains always

 

walk. How slowly we must see

to see this. the morning sky

 

speaks softly running west to east,

reaching to embrace the mountains –

 

fog and rain,

the blue white brilliance of snow.

 

everything is a sign

to those who would see. Winter

 

is here. the grasses of summer

are brittle and brown

 

beneath my feet. Up ahead,

a dozen mountain bluebirds

 

break cover as one, each

a singular sliver of blue, each

 

a slice of heaven, rising,

spiraling up into this limitless sky,

 

reaching

for the embrace of the mountains,

 

yearning

for the blue-white brilliance

 

of snow

 

© 2018 jafink/oldbones.newsnow.com/jfinkimages.com

 

 

2 thoughts on “when i came here

  1. Hello Jeff,

    My name is Patrick Fagan. We met at a Ski To Live event earlier this lifetime.

    Thank you for continuing to send your poems, and for continuing to write. This one resonated with me particularly well and I’ve forwarded it to a few friends; also skiers and lovers of mountains.

    Here are some lyrics I wrote a couple years ago which echo some of the draw mountains have on some of us.

    I was born too far from the mountains

    Though New Englands hills are fine country

    Some are called to the city, some to the sea

    The mountain’s always calling me.

    Small towns are just too big

    Give me a garden, a dog and honeybees

    A campfire and guitar, underneath the stars

    The mountain’s always calling me.

    I love my friends and family

    I love singing harmony

    And I love time alone

    The girl I love most

    Is heading for the coast

    But I just can’t leave my mountain home

    It takes patience and time

    Making dandelion wine

    The mountains always calling me

    (instrumental solo)

    I love my friends and family

    I love singing harmony

    And I love time alone

    The girl I love most

    Moved out to the coast

    But I just can’t leave my mountain home

    It takes patience and time

    Making dandelion wine

    The mountain’s always calling me

    The mountain’s always calling me

    Happy New Year!

    ________________________________

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