Uniformly over the whole countryside <br />The warm air flows imperceptibly seaward; <br />The autumn haze drifts in deep bands <br />Over the pale water; <br />White egrets stand in the blue marshes; <br />Tamalpais, Diablo, St. Helena <br />Float in the air. <br />Climbing on the cliffs of Hunter’s Hill <br />We look out over fifty miles of sinuous <br />Interpenetration of mountains and sea. <br /> <br />Leading up a twisted chimney, <br />Just as my eyes rise to the level <br />Of a small cave, two white owls <br />Fly out, silent, close to my face. <br />They hover, confused in the sunlight, <br />And disappear into the recesses of the cliff. <br /> <br />All day I have been watching a new climber, <br />A young girl with ash blonde hair <br />And gentle confident eyes. <br />She climbs slowly, precisely, <br />With unwasted grace. <br /> <br />While I am coiling the ropes, <br />Watching the spectacular sunset, <br />She turns to me and says, quietly, <br />“It must be very beautiful, the sunset, <br />On Saturn, with the rings and all the moons.”<br /><br />Kenneth Rexroth<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-what-planet/
