Hiss.

Walcott, Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis), 1931

Burning the small dead

branches

broke from beneath

thick spreading

whitebark pine.

a hundred summers

snowmelt        rock        and air

hiss in a twisted bough.

sierra granite;

Mt. Ritter—

black rock twice as old.

Deneb, Altair

windy fire

Gary Snyder