Mt. St Helens II

There was mockery and spectacle
our backs ached from stooping
like apes
and when the mournful cry
of a lonely elk
rose above us
we
paused only
long enough for impatience to seed;
the elk's tall figure present in imagined moonlight,
a real mystery neglected,
and an omen dead.

Mt. St. Helens I

So dark everywhere that the trees were not remembered
over the sound of our own voices.

Minds
much louder than our fire,
we watched the wings of insects in a
glowlight that wasn't theirs

and reason?

The trees laughed,
their moss a flamable smile for our stupidity.