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The Sunday Poem: William C. Hyland... Step Lightly

Hemingway once said, "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast." That is exactly the way many of us think about being in New Mexico's wilderness. You take it with you always.

William Hyland is an Automation Professional working in the Albuquerque/Rio Rancho area. He has eclectic interests that change without notice and a passion for writing poetry.

Step Lightly

Step lightly on the narrow mountain path  

Open your spirit to the world in a walking trance

 Let the rhythm of heart and stride and breath

Empty your thoughts and leave your mind clean

 Of stress and hurry and miasmic spiritual fog

Drink deeply from a clear mountain spring

Open your throat to the chill snow melt draught

 Let the taste of purity course down into you

End your thirst and leave your mouth washed

Of the sour flavor of toxic crowded people

 Breathe in the thin rush of cold mountain air

Open your lungs and inhale the rare tonic

Let the feel of the breeze eddy about your face

 Enhanced by the ever present bouquet of scent

 Of pine and rock, quaking aspen and wildflowers

Store the images deep and safe within your heart

Open them when you need relief from hard life

 Let the memory replay with bright fidelity feelings

 Engraved upon your spirit in solitary serenity

Of quiet content and pleasant contemplation

--William C. Hyland

Poetry submissions are welcome. Email theditchrider@gmail.com.

3 members like this

Comment by Margaret Randall on August 28, 2011 at 8:43am: This is a name I had not heard before in Albuquerque's vibrant poetry world. Welcome, William.

Comment by Richard V on August 29, 2011 at 10:53am: nice to see a new face. and kudos to ditchrider for finding this poet... captures the feeling of locking away those moments of beauty and clarity for those days we need them the most. and then makes you realize, why can't everyday be like this?

Comment by Dee Cohen on August 29, 2011 at 6:29pm: Yes, a very nicely paced & calming poem. Thanks so much for allowing us to stroll along with you, Dee

Comment by Ben Moffett on August 29, 2011 at 10:19pm: I see you are a real Hyland-er, William, so New Mexico, which has the fifth highest mean elevation among the 50 states, and no miasma, is a great place to be. The aspens will be turning within the next two months, but you probably know all that. A wonderful poem. Also, I caught Lisa Gill's face in the just-out September issue of NM Magazine, under a "putting the 'pow' in poetry" headline.. How cool is that?