Page 6 - Contrast1991Fall

THE MOUNTAIN

TIme was when I was young With nature.
The sheep and eagle shared my green mantle;

The elk and bison nurtured at my hem.
Then those creatures, men, came by.

Wearing the hide of elk and deer, they roamed
But did not harm me.

All too soon other men came;
Hard shod With hard hats, they scraped my sides.
They inflicted no major hurt, desirtng only my superficial metal.

I would heal in a few seasons.

Now comes the pain; my green dress is shorn and seared;
Sheep and eagle no longer share my secret places.

Elk and bison disappear, replaced by hawsers of concrete ribbons.
And those creatures, men, bearing weapons of steel

Piercing my skin, devOuring my veins, shrouding my peaks
With Sulfurous smelted smoke.

I have lost my beauty and youth.
Scarred, I show my age; naked, I expose my ravaged body.
And When I die, those scavengers Who made me what I am

WUlSOOngo also.
No, not revenge, but justice.

-Don Ehrhardt

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