Leaf and stone,
Autumn shoes
follow breathless,
sun topped mountain,
bear-clawed aspen,
nothing certain,
earthen, moss quenched
rocks and lichen,
slipping, shifting, shafts
of sunlight,
race the creek bed
back to home,
hurdle branches,
elk and bone,
runners running,
stride unbroken,
trail reopened,
words unspoken.