My friend Dani Burtsfield lives in Montana near Glacier Park. She sent me this photo from a hike she took with Allan Wolf, a poet who was visiting as a presenter for her reading conference. She had taken me on this same hike in the summer of 2018.
I don’t know the specific name for these falls, but I thought a postcard poem would be a good form. This week is Open Write at Ethical ELA and Jeania White led the prompt “Postcards from Places I’ve Never Been”.
Postcard from the Falls
Missing you
as I feel the spray
of cool water
on my face
remembering we took off
our shoes to put our toes in
and spread our arms out wide
to hold a Montana waterfall.Margaret Simon, draft
Imagine this place on a postcard and write a small poem in the comments. Please respond to other poets with encouraging words.
Reflections on the Teche 
Margaret, I like how you used the feel of the spray in your poem. I could feel the cold water.
Remember?
Summer days driving up the mountain road?
Finding our waterfall spot half- way up once macadam turned to dirt,
the secret pullover for our little car? How we’d head down the side,
using trees as handrails, cross the stream on flatter rocks,
our cooler packed with snacks and cold beer?
We’d sun on the tiny flat shore, cool off in the small pool
beneath the rushing falls, stare at clouds, nestle together
wrapped in sun and the bluest blue above,
our cares erased by the roaring white noise
cascading, tumbling, rushing, crushing.
How we’d slip away, our hearts beating slow,
in tune with the water’s call and our summer love.
Remember?
Janet Clare F.
Could not make it single space. I copied and pasted…..
Margaret, I love how you embrace the waterfall with arms open wide. Mine is a touch long but if I bought one of those larger postcards……..I am using the memory and the photo to help me feel better during my covid recovery. How much fun would hiking to falls with Allan Wolf be? And you? Thank you.
So sorry you have been sick. This is a lovely memory full of sensory details (vocabulary I am currently using with my students).
Thank you, Margaret. I love the coincidence. Please feel free to share what you will of the poem, even change the beer if needed! I worked on finding the evocative words and reworked it a little, but this one flowed. I think I needed to write poetry to feel human again!
Such a sweet depiction of young love, Janet. Hope you are feeling better.
Just lovely, Janet, with wonderful details. I especially like “using trees as handrails,” having done that on trails many times, and the sights, tastes, sounds, and emotions. Hope you are better soon!
Love “to hold a Montana waterfall.”
Wish You Were Here
on my morning hike
I rounded a bend
and there it was –
cascading like a bridal veil
over jutting rocks
in a rush of water
so pure, almost holy
I stood in silence
capturing the moment for you
Love “cascading like a bridal veil.”
Rose, I would feel so honored to be the recipient of this postcard and especially like the entire stanza “Cascading like a bridal veil….so pure, almost holy”
Thank you, Rose and yes, today is a better day. I love the bridal veil image!! It is a lovely one.
I thought the ending was purely brilliant and touching. And we don’t need to know the “you”……it lends itself to so many possibilities.
Margaret, I love the idea of a postcard poem, as writing one does not seem daunting. In your poem, I especially love the last 2 lines–taking in all of nature. I think I have identified the falls as Running Eagle Falls in Glacier National Park: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g143026-d1169869-Reviews-Running_Eagle_Falls-Glacier_National_Park_Montana.html
Here’s my entry:
POSTCARD FROM RUNNING EAGLE FALLS
Short day hike escape from
Stress, responsibilities,
obligations, to-do lists,
To breathe deeply,
Greet others on the trail,
And stand in awe
Of nature’s force and beauty,
Always creating.
~Jane Heitman Healy, draft
I absolutely love your last line, Jane. “always creating” sums up perfectly what nature does and what we have the potential to do when we take time to “breathe deeply.”
I asked Dani and it’s Virginia Falls, but no
matter, your poem is a beautiful image of nature’s amazing peacefulness.
Jane, all those things that make a hike soul-filling…..breathing in the air, freedom, new friends and all the appreciation for creation and creating…..inspiration, maybe alone with your thoughts, beauty. You make me want to get up and go hiking right now!!!! This would be a great postcard to receive!!!
Janet
Thank you, Rose, Janet, and Margaret for your kind words, and thanks, Margaret, for setting the record straight! https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g143026-d2284804-Reviews-Virginia_Falls-Glacier_National_Park_Montana.html
Beautiful! These things make me miss someone too.
I love the image in your poem, Margaret—”to hold a Montana waterfall”. As is often the case, your photos trigger associations and memories. This one reminds me of my little (or not-so-little, 17 months today) granddaughter a few months ago, trying to grab the streams of water flowing from a big cup with holes in the bottom. (Happily, they are moving here in 2 weeks!)
I also want to take the opportunity to tell you how much it has meant to me to be able to count on this one little corner of Poetry Friday every week; although I am slowly connecting with other bloggers, it will take time. I’m happy to say that I’ve decided to start a blog, after a couple of decades “off”, and will hopefully be able to participate more actively in the future—as soon as I figure out how to get it up and running.