Hark this ode to New Army Pass

Who humbly stands the world's crown

  Granite and stark above the glass

That is the landscape around 

   Dwarfed by Langley's patchy snow

    Poking fun at you with that slant

      Silently, you ask us where to next

   In your cradle nothing grows

    Except a dream's magic incant 

      For at this crossroads the world connects

 

  See the sun auction a bald face

And carve cups out of snow's skin

  Feast the majesty of this place 

Release the demons within

   Flanked by a repeating stair,

    Never were you easy to reach

      You laugh as struggle is your reward

   Paying homage to the air:

    The poor fool who strayed from his beach 

      And met the sweet malice of your sword

 

  Feel the world a-tremble in bliss

Weightless above like a cloud

  Dare to relish the mountain kiss

Naked, obscure in a shroud

   A mecca to those who know

    Atop your respite we ponder

      And there seek the most meaningful Hajj

   Through our hair feel the wind blow

     A path to let spirits wander

       A willing aid to face life's barrage 

 

  Oh! My gem of the western range

I, a slave to your chassis,

  Sit and write a query so strange:

An unworthy ekphrasis 

   I miss your beauteous soul

    As I sit here and reminisce

      Your miles grow ever the farther

   You, who from greater kin stole, 

     Who from that scattered coalesce,

       Who brought me closer to my father.