Lost Time Is Where You Find It

Cloudless at dawn, birdsong,
And the light canyon winds
Let you know already

The more enterprising
Campers, tourists, hikers,
Will be hitting the trails.

All the hotels are full
In your narrow town
And more are being built,

And the technologies
Harvesting memories
Nest in every pocket.

You live here, wondering
At the resources spent
By visitors, how views

That separate people
Into contesting sides
Are set aside for views

Of the towering cliffs,
The bighorn sheep and deer,
The pictures editing

Fellow travelers in,
All other tourists out.
We will pretend we aren’t

At odds with each other.
We will pretend others
Aren’t here all around us.

We’ll return with pictures
Of bison and sunsets
And green canyon trailheads.

You sit in your rocker,
Content with your own aches,
Imagining the plans

Of the people pouring
Through the canyon today,
Cloudless, getting warmer,

Birds quieter, the world
That made this moment far
And then farther away.