Kentucky Palisades

by John Swain

Below the cedars
on the palisade face
one white tree
grew from the creek
cascading slate terraces
to the flood river.
Ferns and antlers
emerged from the thaw
green to the spring
catching the new light
to become pure
as a girl in the sun.
I age in the weathering
as the river and falls
fill the gorge
one day forever
before she tires
of the bell sound.