Mietzke's POST Holden Adventure

Little footprints in the snow ascend towards the basin
Laughter and chatter fill the forest as we rise
A few breaks are taken on the steep incline
Hands and eyes busily investigate the terrain
Noticing the subtle shapes and imagining stories
First we are travelers in a foreign country
Trying to escape and make our way to safety
Then we are on a search for the last of the dragons
This magical world is enlivened with each step
After and hour or more
The basin opens up before us white and beautiful.
We hike into a little hill in the center with the best view
And sit amongst a stand of fir.
All the backpacks are shed and the explorers are off
Gathering firewood
And counting the waterfalls
Which lie captive in frozen stillness
The fire is made
Stacking wood atop two sticks
Keeping the kindling from the melting snow
Soon a flicker of flame becomes a genuine fire
Where we warm cold hands
And gather to tell wilderness stories
Stories of tragedy and survival
Our own story is simple,
A pilgrimage to copper basin
Imagination set free
Good sandwiches
Good company
And a tale or two to tell
Before we head back down the path
Towards home

The moon shines regardless of my mood
Brightly pulling me out of my evening sulk
Out into the light of the divine
I want to hold onto my discontent
To sink under the cover of my own mask
And hide away from the blue light cascading over snow and ice
As much as I like my woes
I can’t seem to hold onto them
When even of a sliver of silver light
Comes through the cracks in my curtain
Beckoning me out into the night
To be amazed at the tops of mountains
And dance in the shadows that play across the path
At a point I find myself without my worries
Without loneliness and to my surprise
I have become heaven to myself
Basked in light and mystery
Forgetting the consumption of fear
And turning my face upward towards light
And still the moon shines regardless of my mood