Who Poem by Scarlett Treat

Who, I ask, were you?

I ask the silent spirits
Whom I found at Mesa Verde,
As I stood and looked
Across the distant vista,

And as I walked down
Those steep, rocky paths
Leading to the bottom
Of an unseen canyon.

I looked across the canyon
And could hardly see
The other side,
But there it was,
Buried deep under
An overhanging cliff.

And I wondered,
How in heaven's name
You ever found the place,
And carried rocks and mud
Down, Down to the bottom.

How did you ever manage
To build your tiny adobe home,
Deep inside the caves,
Unseen from the top,
Protected from your enemies.

I feel your soul, still wandering about,
Protecting your secrets,
Keeping my prying eyes out,
Sheltering your history
From nosy folks like me,
But I still wonder...
Who Were You?

Scarlett Treat
March 27,2009