Out of Reach


there is no track back

through boulders brush and tundra

just caribou roads

and idiot wise goat trails

and bear-browse scat dollop paths


these hillsides unwind

into river rush abyss

into tombstone peak

no belief in my compass

still I trust it knows its way


the next land-shoulder

rises ahead shrugs off cloud

as i fall upwards

into a nameless summit

where empty earth breathes fullness


walker leave no trace

lover leave no fingerprint

poet leave no words




Ted Eames, 2018