Enchanted Rock

Enchanted Rock in Fredericksburg, Texas
rises 425 feet from the base area.
There's a few feet of trail but mostly,
it's an uphill climb on sheer rock. My thighs
are still talking about it.

Pink granite rising from the earth
as if it's Mother Nature's breast,
the other worn away by time or
trampled flat by warriors and
conquerors and Boy Scout troops.
To climb the summit is to look out
on creation, kissed by sunlight and
pockmarked by rain. Legends hover
behind cacti, ghostly moans unheard
because the guests are groaning from
the sheer exertion, sucking water
on a break, cursing the show-off jogging
past, but not for long. No one takes
Enchanted Rock for granted and survives.


(c) Ellen Gillette, 2014