Thirteen Ways of Looking at Taos


I

Rushing, rippling through the deep gorge
Fast and powerful
The Rio Grande winds

II

The mountains, tipped with clouds
Glisten with snow tipped trees
That gently shake in the breeze

III

The fields, brown from the winter frost
Cover the landscape
To the far ridges they stretch

IV

The hawks dancing in the wind
Snow rushing down from the sky
A gleam from the summer sun
The mountains remain impassive

V

Dogs playing in the snow
The ice gleaming like rainbows
Yet the river still roars

VI

The desert hills roasting in midsummer heat
Fires burning wild
Snow will yet return to the mountains

VII

Houses that took years to build
Roads shaped by decades
Still, mountains
Progeny of the thousand millennia



VIII

Aspens shake in the high mountain glades
Children run though the streets in summer
In winter
All is silenced

IX

Tourists come frequently
Inhabitants live and die
Trees burn, while creatures wither
The mountains stand triumphant

X

Skies deep blue in winter
Skies bright blue in summer
Skies with clouds one day
Skies with smoke the next

XI

Grass sparsely located
Trees far between and small
Mountains rule the land

XII

Artists marvel
Tourists stare
The locals buy eggs and milk

XIII

Humanity, nature, geography
Are distinct, combined, apart, together
Mountains rule the land