On Any Given Day: Near Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
First, we watched the elk herd
cross the blacktop, their steps
slow and stately as a procession
of the College of Cardinals;
then the flock of bighorn sheep,
statues beneath our inn window,
drivers stopped on either side
of the road to snap photos,
or, like us, just gawk.
Then, snow falling from a sky
clear as a giant turquoise mirror,
then clouds, shoulders like bison,
reminding us that March
is a month of many moods,
and Colorado’s mountains
are changeable as Cleopatra
in her boudoir, deciding
what robes or lovers to put on.
The snow over, the bighorn sheep
vanished like folktale creatures,
we continue to stand and stare,
wondering if even more amazing
beasts will wander past.
Robert Cooperman's latest collection is The Ghosts and Bones of Troy (Kelsay Books). Forthcoming from Finishing Line Press is the chapbook, All Our Fare-Thee-Wells, Cooperman's love letter to the Grateful Dead.
First, we watched the elk herd
cross the blacktop, their steps
slow and stately as a procession
of the College of Cardinals;
then the flock of bighorn sheep,
statues beneath our inn window,
drivers stopped on either side
of the road to snap photos,
or, like us, just gawk.
Then, snow falling from a sky
clear as a giant turquoise mirror,
then clouds, shoulders like bison,
reminding us that March
is a month of many moods,
and Colorado’s mountains
are changeable as Cleopatra
in her boudoir, deciding
what robes or lovers to put on.
The snow over, the bighorn sheep
vanished like folktale creatures,
we continue to stand and stare,
wondering if even more amazing
beasts will wander past.
Robert Cooperman's latest collection is The Ghosts and Bones of Troy (Kelsay Books). Forthcoming from Finishing Line Press is the chapbook, All Our Fare-Thee-Wells, Cooperman's love letter to the Grateful Dead.
