Mountainspeak

I would like to tell you
these mountains will remember us
long after we’re gone
but they won’t.

I would like to tell you
these mountains exist
solely for you and for me
but they don’t.

These mountains
once oceans and seas
scattered rifts and chasms
hunkered down in ancient bedrock
rites of passage for Appalachian trails.

We conquer the mountains
because we can.
But any good mountain knows
that the truest pleasure
lies in the peaceful existence
between mountains and men.