Spring Solution

As it were, the last memory,

wafting across blooming countryside shelter,

from spring’s whipping Mistral

Time’s effortless pass left us stranded

on vistas, vines untethered, atop cobbled soils

Grand meandering currents to the west,

and mighty glaciered peaks of the east

Offroading in a French rental car –

risking damage and stern consternation,

for the sake of blathering discourse

on the significance of a slope

Fascinations defining all composition,

and the storied evolution of dirt

Origins upstream,

from steel and iron

locks, setting the flow adrift,

splitting currents from adjoined waters

Passersby waving away, unbowed

A culminated city overlooked

by ominous clouds and gothic brows,

through colors from an age of enlightenment

From coliseum slopes of granitic density,

terraced erosion, too steep to tread

out the bitter blood and iron

from its sweet fruits

From ancient stone crosses,

monastic rhythms over centuries,

laid in pastoral patterns,

on gentle grades, gleaning redemption

and a kiss of sublime, resting

in an unkindly giving moment

To pastel brick-stone street cafes,

amid bustling city markets, oblivious

to monuments of purposeful past

Retreats of forgiveness

in shining fields of lavender, stone outcroppings

overlooking the vast indifferent sea,

or the enveloping meadows

harbored from crumbling ruins

of solemn futures

MM 3/17