---

A burnished breeze shall settle
from those forlorn winds
that grace Montana Avalancia

Stilted slopes that extend;
yawning --
covered
with burly snow:
Landscapes
of painfully beautiful
longing;

undefined wonderment protruding;
brandishing initmate knowledge --
always;
of your dreams'
lucid schemes --

That you have been guiding
beneath

The frost covered ground,
borne on subtle undercurrents --
in torrents
of warm hidden underground
springs;

Yet surface purity
conceals
those underlying
torrid emotions

in its caked
and frozen brittleness;
But, for the tender green shoots,
it barely reveals its bitterness;

though
essence of life does flow;
there --

beneath
sheath --

of white.

The stillness of grasses
held fast within ice
belies the unyielding power

of frigid and unfeeling grip
that;

for a while

restrains signs of life
unmoving
lest
breathed upon;

by warm breeze's strife;

that life --
deep within
touched from outside;

insatiably infused
by glaring gray sky that knows;

even Avalancia;
though icy cold --
she faintly shows

also tempest --

that blows
with heat and spirit of being
She releases from grounds;

invisibly
simmering beneath
there shimmering -
to rise

Be collected
in an atmosphere so full
with clouds to greet

Our soul's breath,
to meet
once again;

As geyser
of salacious scalding steam
breaks calm, perfect sheen
pierces surface;
and spays drench of ardor
into the anxious thirsty sky

Noon -- merely
moments away;

weather shifts
and those droplets;
pristine limpid pools
so wary; aware --

turn slowly
back
to harsh passive ice

and wait;
for wind's touch of care;

to invoke;
evoke and
erupt

into Fontana de Avalnacia

Copyright (c) 2004 Jeff Mason & Al Swason