Brush Mountain

the upward mobility
of water

Plummer’s Hollow, where I live, is cut into the northeast end of Brush Mountain, a typical long, low ridge in the folded Appalachians, raised above the valleys by differential erosion (and also shaped by periglacial processes during the Ice Ages). It would perhaps make more logical sense to talk of water’s downward mobility, but you know, I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now.

Photo taken from my front porch yesterday morning after the latest snowfall. I’m not sure what the name of this Snapseed font is, but it’s perfect for achieving legibility against a busy background.

thirsty dog

dog standing on a frozen pond in the woods

the pond’s ice creaks
under her weight

A small box of leftover parts

A leaf frozen into the ice of a pond with submerged tree limbs dimply visible below.

from all the broken things I tried to fix.

trapped in ice

Cattail stalks in a frozen pond, their seedheads turning white and beginning to fray.

the cattails shape-shift
into clouds

wetlands in winter

Close-up shot of miniature spires of ice in the frozen ground, back-lit by the sun

I crush another cathedral
with every step

Sound travels more slowly in the cold.

The frozen surface of a pond with a leaf frozen in clear ice and rings of successively whiter ice closer to shore.

Over the next four years, some words may freeze before they leave our mouths.

Growing up during the Cold War

An irregular, flying-saucer-shaped blog of ice in the stream, formed around a moss-covered rock.

we watched for the flash of a nuclear strike by day, and by night, the mysterious lights of UFOs.

In this new upside-down world

A close-up of four-inch-long columns of needle ice sprouted from damp soil.

crops grow in the absence of sunlight, sexless and cold as an economist’s dream.

The way my skin cracks in winter

View of an icy woodland pond.

maybe I’ll molt.

rainbows

where the chainsaw sat
leaking oil