Approaching The Rockies Poem by David Welch

Approaching The Rockies



My quest to walk across the nation,
like vaunted pioneers of old,
started in Maine six months ago,
post vlogs of my progress for folks.

I am deep in Wyoming now,
and I'm on my third pair of shoes,
brown grass beneath, cropped by cattle,
in front the prairie meets its end.

It's a spread of foot-hills at first,
low and slashed by gullies, canyons,
their slopes half-forest, half-open,
perfect space for elk to graze.

Cannot see any up there now,
though a few buzzards wheel about,
behind them loom big, granite waves,
frozen forever into peaks.

Not the first to just stand and stare,
nor am I the last, I suspect.
There are goats up there, snowy white,
and grizzled bruins, huge and brown.

Mulies with their tall, forked antlers,
and charging, spiral-horned sheep,
darting amidst blazes of aspen,
near soldier-strait ponderosas…

Snow still clings on, up near the crests,
I don't think it will ever leave.
Nearby, a decrepit wagon,
old wood bleached by endless sun.

Is it a relic of the past?
Or decoration of today?
Who knows, but its path ended here,
mine continues, right through the peaks.

Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Topic(s) of this poem: animals,appreciation,beauty,blank verse,imagery,mountains,nature,places
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Julia Luber 10 July 2019

I'm wondering how much of this is true: the details are so elegantly refined, I almost feel like I am hiking with you? Are you trekking across the nation, or is this your fine tuned imagination on on? I got a feeling of being in Wyoming, regardless, either way. Once again, thanks. All the poems I've read of yours are gems!

1 0 Reply
Julia Luber 10 July 2019

Great that it is fictional- lets the reader feel like they have had as much of a 'vacation' as the poet. You're right about that assumption of first person. Great poem…..

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David Welch 10 July 2019

It's fictional, most of my work is unless its political or philosophical. Probably should've left an author's note about that. I don't know what it is, but so many people assume if you use the first person in poetry your talking about your own life. You don't see that in prose so much. Anyway, thanks for reading!

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Jazib Kamalvi 09 July 2019

A refined poetic imagination, David Welch. You may like to read my poem, Love And Iust. Thank you.

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