Pointing West, Missoula, Montana

“…Drink tea and watch the landscape forget itself. Think of your life
in place, not time. Another time, you’re walking home beside the same river.
Evening is crimson
                       along the horizon.
Look, you say to the child, pointing west. It’s over there, too, he says, pointing east. The place has you almost surrounded. And there’s a dragon, he says. (There’s always a dragon.) Wingecarribee Zen…”

- from “
Eclogues” By Mark Tredinnick (b. 1962)
(Please do click the text link and ramble through the lovely language in this poem of everyday.)

Fall Diehard, Missoula, Montana

“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow.”
― Mary Anne Radmacher

Prickly Sphere, Charlo, Montana

“So it is with life. 

Those thorns, the prickly problems of life, cause us to strive to rise above them and then, as we do, we learn. 

We learn to exercise true compassion, true kindness - or the thorns, if we let them, cause us to brood, to mourn over our trials. Then we plant the seeds of bitterness, hate, and ruin - weeds. 

We may reach up for the rose or down to the weeds...the weeds in life that tangle us, strangle us, and cause us to lose hope.” - James Michael Pratt

Small City at Sunset, Missoula, Montana

At six
  the sun sets
escorted by puffs of blushing clouds,
distributing its last golden wealth
to the immediate heaven
while the whole cosmos
turns green and blue with envy
The mountains stretching —
   a huge black cat
motionless...
the humming city nestles cosily to rest. 
- From "City Sunset" by Celestine Kulagoe
from Some Modern Poetry from the Solomon Islands, edited by Albert Wendt (Fiji: Mana Publications, 1975)

(Click the above text links to read the full poem and learn more about the author.)

Dock - Flathead Lake, Polson, Montana

In case you wonder, “Why would anyone label their dock?”, the full inscription actually reads “PRIVATE DOCK”.
(Hmmmm... I hear the murmur - especially if you know I don't have a boat, or a dock, or convenient acquaintances who share such - wondering, how then did this photo come about?)
But given the lack of hangers-about, and the lure of this perfect, weathered pier, I ran with that golden maxim, “Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness, not permission.”
And - lucky me ! - there was no need to request either! 
Untroubled, I sat down where the seagulls had not left their brand of graffiti and savoured the luscious lake and mountain view, to a soundtrack of lappy-lappy waves backed by a sighing wind section. 
Livin' a version of the Montana good life!

Water Skipper, Missoula, Montana

“Whenever we’re asked

If we walk upon water

We answer

            Of course.

To be sure.

It’s quite true….

Should we be questioned

On whether it’s easy

We answer

Quite easy.

A snap.

It’s a cinch….”

- from "Water Striders" by Paul Fleischman

Paul Fleischman’s entire charming poem in the voice of water skippers is viewable here in a preview of his book “Joyful Noise, Poems for Two Voices.” Fleischman’s witty bug’s-eye-views, paired with Eric Beddows charming illustrations, will set your inner child to begging your adult self to ‘PleasePleasePlease go to the bookstore and buy this for me!’

Stone-Gathered Moss, Missoula, Montana

The un-rolling stone is often derided, by association, for its lack of ambition. 
But there’s a reassurance and restfulness in the clear calm of this mossy pause.
Besides, the Western Montana experience of rolling stones is that they ricochet madly down mountain sides and are something you only hope to see on a highway warning sign - or in concert at your local stadium.

Mums the Word, Missoula, Montana

"...The bee, his hive, 

Well-honeyed hum,

 And Mother cuts 

 Chrysanthemums.

Like plates washed clean 

With suds, the days

 Are polished with 

A morning haze." 

- from John Updike's 'September'