ancient meditations

spirits of forgotten ancestors

wander aimlessly
through the gorges and canyons
and across the mesa
lost to the noontide heat

born out of dreams
before times

ancient meditations mark
the hillsides and mountain faces
with lasting images
of a lingering past
of a nameless future

we shall no longer be
when eternal stars
stop to pour
their glowing
into the footprints of gods

but the memory
of the wonder of clouds
above the inscripted rocks
dawn-lit on a hesitant morning
shall remain