sweet mountain mud

the original planners of howelsen hill ski area did not do a very sound job of cutting its ski runs. this year, and pretty much every year i think, the center of the headwall run is slowly losing an impossible, grimy battle with gravity. every day, more muck makes its way down the slope, in a glacially paced mudslide. city directors, local engineers, sports & rec employees - they're all trying to figure out how to shore it up so that it doesn't happen again.

all of that inspired this.

mud season

the banks of the yampa
are undercut and wet
espresso chocolate dark

a handful of mud is smooth
with little bits of grit
like sugar in cookie dough

for a few weeks
normally dry fields become
wetlands

muck disguised under grass
grabbing sandal soles
soft and messy sounds

and i
just like the aspens
reach my roots deep

drink in the water
the spring
the snowmelt

blossom a brilliant green
and sow my soul
in the mud of this valley