Mountain Standard Time

Mountains surround and alliterate: snow

stubborn on the southern slopes. Men wade

into the lake, talking to cutthroats. Imagine

a buggy whip free of indenture. Long lines

Envy changes with the altitude,

palmetto bugs, anopheles—black flies

at this height. The men will become beacons

of heat, sing in the beak. They will trade

tales and platelets. Fires form pentagrams

as they sleep. The whisper of tied flies,

the sharps of stars. Pines regret their

indiscretions. A glacier snaps like take two.