Long Trailhead Poems

A venetian red yearling’s head
Pops up
From behind a fallen log
Licks rouge from its lips
And the syrup sipped from dark maple bark
Ears tweaking
To the snow-crunch creak
Of my dog and me approaching
From down the trail

Forest
Tamed by these...

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The trailhead stands there before me,
after two hour's drive,
a peak with a panorama
that others call sublime.

I have been meaning to climb it,
test my will and my heart,
cannot believe it took this long
just to come out...

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Hiking the canyon, the trailhead
below, down the stairs we would dread
in a few hours or so.
Beautiful day, sunny and hot,
Lovely tall pines, shady in spots,
Onward, upward we go!

Forty creek crossings, back and forth
cliffs to the...

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Escaping the Clouds
                     by Odin Roark

Entering one's Now…

How long the traverse.
Mountainous obstacles
Seem not of our...

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The man went for a mountain run,
told his fiancé of his plans.
A sundial slowly waltzed on by...
but the man never came back.

They called in search and rescue.
They spread out far into the wild.
Loved ones posted...

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Calloused by the do-or-die hero's walk on the perilous road
Over hazard's hill stumbling in soldier's shoes of regret and sorrow 
Merciless these wars of tired tyrants, this trailhead I have followed
I should bury these warrior's...

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Lost in the woods
Are you kidding?
My feet they’re freezing 
We’re lost in the woods!
We’re lost in the woods!

You warned me of mud 
And you certainly didn’t disappoint 
And now there’s even snow
I think I want...

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Exiting the Clouds

 

Entering one's Now

How long the traverse
Mountainous obstacles
Seem not of our creation
Yet rock hard impasses appear
Where clear path seemed obvious
Now impassible

The best laid plans...
Swirl amidst the winds of challenge
Icing our tenacity
Whiting-out our vision
Deafening...

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When you're lost in those woods, it sometimes takes you a while to realize that you are lost. For the longest time, you can convince yourself that you've just wandered off the path, that you'll...

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everything is beyond green today
even the bluebirds take notice,
and seronade the dancing sun
death is so far away-

iv'e given a name to the Iris
that lives and plays near the trailhead
that has greeted me for a week
cheered...

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*A young man went out for a stroll 
into a remote patch of icy blue Adirondak
It's been a few moons since he was last seen 
they discovered his lithium car at the trailhead
A white broom...

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Can’t just jump to the finish line
Need to put in the work along the way
Would be nice to only reap the gains
But no shortcuts despite what others say

Progress needs to build upon itself
Can’t just jump...

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