"crystal mountain ramble" by w v sutra

voices in the hill thunder

missing souls gone from these rocks

strangers long gone

with their tennis and their cocktails

their pedigreed dogs and pleasure loving children

the old court is cracked

gone to weeds

netless

this line of green pencil makes a pine needle

while the air hangs in pine smell

wild hyssop hides the partridge

but nightsoil intrudes

old carrion too

pine nuts are found

lying on crystals

that grace chocolate scorpions

scuttling over fragments of shrapnel

walking on crystal mountain

walking with pockets full

papier de damas

allumettes du canon

araq kazan

marlboro export

hashish du biqaa

the cicadas have won the day

perched on the pine bark

they shriek to their brothers below in beirut

in the littoral groves of umbrella pines

where the old americans lie buried

w v sutra was born in Africa and raised in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, borne hither and thither on the surging tides of cold war and soft power. He has been at various times a rock musician, a public health professional, and an educator. He began writing poetry during the Covid-19 lockdown. His work can be found in various online journals and at wvsutra.com . He lives and works on a horse farm on the shoulders of the Holston Mountains in East Tennessee.