The Mountain is Holding Out

The Mountain is Holding Out


The mountain is holding out
for news from the sea
of the raid on the redoubt.
The plain won’t level with me

for news from the sea
is harder and harder to find.
The plain won’t level with me
now it’s non-aligned

and harder and harder to find.
The forest won’t fill me in
now it, too, is non-aligned
and its patience wearing thin.

The forest won’t fill me in
nor the lake confess
to its patience wearing thin.
I’d no more try to guess

why the lake might confess
to a regard for its own sheen,
no more try to guess
why the river won’t come clean

on its regard for its own sheen
than why you and I’ve faced off across a ditch.
For the river not coming clean
is only one of the issues on which

you and I’ve faced off across a ditch
and the raid on the redoubt
only one of the issues on which
the mountain is holding out.