Jemez Columns
rise above the heat of summer
leave the rio grande valley
for the red cliffs of Jemez
enter the forest of bluebells
& wild iris
carpeting the rough hewn canyons
gaze at walls of
weather-warn sandstone
petroglyphs etched by
unknown sculptors
aging in the wind.
the script in indecipherable
to our archaeologists
but seems to be engraved
vertically in columns so high
perhaps a giant camped here long ago
falcons soar among the clouds
along the shear walls
wingspread fanned
to catch the updraft
Copyright 1986, edited 2006 njTare
