Vortex
     for Mattie 
  
 "When I first caught sight of Mt. Shasta, 
 over the braided folds of the Sacramento Valley, 
 I was fifty miles away and afoot, alone and weary. 
 Yet all my blood turned to wine,
 and I have not been weary since." - John Muir, 1874
  
  
 Vacuums can appear as swirls 
 on the distant horizon, or, all of a sudden,
 open at our feet, spin, pull us in.
  
 Beauty, power, and danger:
 a trident of transformation
 pierces us, and we flip like caught fish.
  
 Now, at the advent of tornado season,
 perhaps we are right to tremble.
 Change spirals in, never easy or complete.
  
 We hang in flux, dynamic as clouds
 circling a sacred mountain, painting
 the sky with flying dragons.
  
 Why does our deep wisdom 
 fly before us? We call, answered
 by echoes, by rapturous 
  
 emptiness. And so, we sit.
 We become still as the mountain,
 holding firm, until the storm
  
 passes, the green air departs,
 and we are flooded with peace
 as potent as sunset-colored wine.
  
 Leslie Schultz 

Thanks for these incredible images go to the blog “Hike Mt. Shasta” which includes many other images and resources for visitors. The photographer, John R. Soares, is a lucid and lyrical writer, and the well-known author of hiking guides for the California region. His books can be purchased on Amazon.

Wishing you a happy Earth Day today! LESLIE