Metal ladder staircase to the chill,
mossy wooden ladder to the warm,
fog enwreathing forest on a hill,
valley heat and desert thunderstorm;
bold mosquitos,
lurking poison oak,
avenues of gravel, dirt, and brush,
campsite resined wood that sends up smoke
instead of light,
emphatic in the hush;
dripping fog on ancient redwood trees,
pickup trucks and boots and tractor caps;
lava tubes,
volcanic cavities,
and half a dozen road and topo maps
together fill a reticule for me
to plunder when I weave this memory.