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Issue #168, Yosemite and Emigrant Wilderness, California; as well as the Carson River, Carson, Nevada. (Part 5 of the Wild-Machen "Epic Road Trip of 2017") Haiku and photographs by Jonathan Machen.
balancing need
for action with Paige’s need
for relaxation
sheer concentration
humanity in nature
ice melts in cooler
this sanctuary
the most divine cathedral
center of the throng
a scale of grandeur
to everything on this trail
including the crowd
mist trail, vernal falls
soaked - totally surrounded
by happy people
the trail guide told us
not to bring small children here
he carries infant
severe frustration
to find so many people
blissed out on the trail
sublime landscape
even with so many tourists
obscuring my view
now I turn into
the idiot in the crowd
taking family photo
leaving bananas
and carving their names in moss
today’s worshipers
at least we are all
out here, sweating together
the new catharsis
collapsed on the trail
forgot her oxygen pump
they call 911
explaining John Muir
to my thirsty, tired kids:
put sunscreen on ear
demanding to know
how many miles we have left:
misplaced squirt bottle
the mighty Merced
flowing icy green and cold
squirrel nips my foot
kids, hot and tired
not wanting to hear about
the famous John Muir
stand right here - trust me
I tell the German tourists
as I take their photo
John Muir understood
that all who visited here
would be touched by light
Yosemite zoo:
see the species of tourists
feeding on the view
gigantic boulders
in the middle of the stream
hardly block the flow
John Muir, lucky man
to have avoided shuttle bus
on the way to the lake
what brings all people
of all nations together?
a landscape of one
with Mexican friends
jumping into the cold lake
all faiths united
everyone hoping
to take sacramental shot
with digital camera
ferns and butterflies
cool dappled sunlight on bark
white granite, black specks
dragonfly waltz
back and forth across the stream
kids whistle in reeds
hi! I’m a heathen
I think I’ll stick my tissue
into this tree knot
people disappear
and the full weight of nature
brings me to my knees
John Muir had it good
coming before the tourists
flocked to his namesake
matching green t-shirts
“May the forest be with you”:
black-kilted couple
in Yosemite
reconnecting with the source
of light and color
tethered to family,
perspiring behind strangers:
Yosemite zen
traffic jam on trail
leading up to waterfall
traffic noise below
family dynamics
and hot, steep dusty switchbacks
calls for more patience
survey marker shows
the age of humanity
compared to the rock
kids reminding me
of forgotten mishaps:
glasses in wipers
disaster unfolds
I try to take a left turn
he tries to pass me
Emigrant stillness
the sound of water on rock-
his cell phone music
surprise by the lake
six-petalled yellow flowers -
her hidden campsite
sierra snowpack
cascading down granite bowls
fishing rod breaks
walking in the woods
sorry to be intruding
on your perfect spot
your meditation
enhanced by my intrusion
on your sacred space
to be a river rat
wet, sunburned, thirsty and hot
adrenalin flows
smoke from Sierra fire
filters to Carson river
family floats ahead
in late afternoon
we eddy up to camp
kids play in hot springs
slow grace of the raft
loaded with our equipment
blister on my palm
rafting gear evolves
but the river stays the same
lizard suns on rock
surprised to find rock
that I was trying to avoid
now under my boat
eddies, boils, currents
the slow pace of the river -
scrub jays fight in trees
friend of 40 years
takes me back to rafting days -
ones he never left
now with my family
same old anxiety
I had as a kid
kids in hot springs pool
give it a good scouring -
brushes left behind
kids wondering why
their experienced rafting dad
is stuck on a rock
river’s slow embrace
seeps into our second day:
turkey vultures above
river rafters’ knots
honed with years of practice
tied without a thought
desert take-out
we disassemble the boats
and thoughts of the day
solo/group kukai
drawing/writing/photography
jonathan machen