sapless trees

I’m already passing
that distant lake

deserted trail

dead leaves rising up
to dance

wilderness peak

checking my phone
for a signal

leaves falling

through low sun
a yellow-shafted flicker

bare sandstone

in my earliest memories
you were granite

returning

to my upstairs bedroom
my own body heat

autumn pond

a bottomless blue
six inches deep

Mountain stream: haiku or tanka?

mountain stream talking to myself

pine scent

of a pine
discarded needles

mountaintop hemlocks

the last katydid’s
creaky love song

under this lush life

more mountain

cable footbridge

the autumn river’s
unhurried flow