Missing mountaintop

From time to time a flash of panic, as if I’ve forgotten something — but I can’t think what.

missing mountaintop
in the pit
of my stomach

a thousand

acres of silence
one red squirrel

on an empty stomach
trying not to stare

through bare branches
with its horns out

the falling snowflakes
one brown leaf

I was trying to find another world. It was right here all along.

hunter’s cap
a bell-like sound
from the raven’s throat

of the wolf
mother tree

the mountain cut open
by a new road

you too
have never existed

my dreams these days
have other stars

on the side of the road
ready for winter

You can see farther this time of year because there’s so much less to see.

ridgetop wind
speaking in the voice
of a raven