Desolation Poem by James A Tweedie

Blasted granite marks the trail
Guttered through eternal rock.
Windborne smoke and ashes veil
Mountain peaks through which we walk.

Upwards blue sky's endlessness;
Downwards glimpse of lakes below,
High Sierra wilderness—
Gleaming stone bedecked with snow.

Onwards towards our destination,
Passing juniper and pine,
To the place called Desolation,
Glacial-carved from God's design.

Mirrored waters stretch before us,
Barren boulders, white-bleached trees,
Join in silence to implore us
Rest our sore and weary knees.

All too soon, with souls inspired,
We retrace the way we'd come.
Aching, stumbling, perspired,
Trading Paradise for home.