We bring time here with us
When we crawl from the car
At the trailhead, we tie its limbs
Blindfold it—so it can’t tick
Gag it—so it can’t tock
We tow time past
Moss smothered boulders
Lichen licked persimmon and hickory
They glour at time
That unfamiliar thing
With forlorn expressions
As we pull it through
Bewildered wilderness
Toward higher climes, we climb
We make time
Skid across water-carved rocks
Until we crest the summit
Where a cliff face produces a deluge
From some source, I do not know
Spits into a trembling basin
We say to time
“You have no meaning here, no throne
You are an enigma
Unknown, anomalous
This poison ivy pays you no mind
Nor do kudzu, shale, squirrel, crow
To them you are nothing
Here you weigh less than a moment
To us, you are no more”
With a one-two-heave
We no longer have the time
Mosquitos bask with us when
We become blue-tailed skinks
Baking beneath the salamander sun;
Somewhere in the pool below
Time slowly passes