TARARUA RANGES <br /> <br />In a life now past we are seated on a ridge <br />The tents are up and dinner cooks on our small spirit stoves <br />Time enough to watch the clouds <br />Leaping around like playful goats in slow motion <br />Shading in and out of gray through pink and yellow <br />Then back again. <br /> <br />It isn’t considered wise to camp at this height <br />Even in a saddle on such an exposed arête <br />Yet wisdom would be folly to pass up such a chance <br />And press on to a safe camp <br />The weather has been fine for days and forecasts longer <br />We weren’t total fools <br />There will always be time for wisdom <br />Some other day. <br /> <br />The wind feels cooler as the hills prepare to for night <br />Valleys darken as the shadow margin climbs towards us <br />This will be our last evening meal <br />Before meeting our transport tomorrow <br />There will be opportunities to watch the sky later <br />And take our minds from our abused stomachs. <br /> <br />The nights, the nights <br />What urban resident may know <br />The stellar wonder of our Southern sky <br />Washed pale by street lamps, car lights and hoarding glitter <br />Only see the faded Southern Cross or Milky Way <br />Never fully know a meteorite’s fiery plunge <br />Or watch the crescent moon loft between two peaks <br />Yet even young stamina must give in to need <br />Now sleep. <br /> <br />A fresh generation walks <br />Over familiar tops and valleys <br />Never again will this aging carcass travel <br />Where my boots once pounded down the tracks <br />Those beautiful safe holds from a frenetic world <br />They yet remain, as I once knew <br />As did those before us whom we acknowledged <br />Those who first showed the way <br />We pass them on in turn to you, you <br />And you.<br /><br />Thomas Golding<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tararua-ranges/
