my first post in months, "in the old kingdom of dark mountains" - took me a week to write - just finished, just posted

Castillo de Sarracín

Vega de Valcarce

near the border 

between the ancient kingdoms

of León and Galicia

in the old kingdom of dark mountains

i.

In the old kingdom

of dark mountains
in deep solitary glades

where sunlight

penetrates dense canopies

ceilings of limb and leaf

generates an aura of unique

holiness

and human inhabitation

seems no more

ii.

looking back

don’t look back

look back in anger

look back in regret

look back in sin

but looking back can

strain your neck

and destabilize your

forward motion

iii.

in the new kingdom

of asphalt

and fiber optics

where the horror 
awaits some of us

on facebook or

instagram or

in those tweets

and the horror 
awaits some of us

in the old kingdom

of dark mountains

fog-invisible

peaks and chasms

of the soul