Especially in winter when they're dressed
in somber cloaks of white
crisscrossed with ragged lines of trees
brown dots that in the distance
trail across what seems
a Chinese landscape scroll
unfolding scene by scene
the mountains rising both sides
of the Interstate
project a timeless world
and give the lie
to the long lines of cars whose drivers
rushing north and south
are needing to be somewhere else
by Christmas eve
a moment's thought reminds us
how just yesterday
there were no cars
and how tomorrow
or next week
when we are gone
the mountains will have back
what they have lost
their solitude
their stillness and their peace