"Dream Mountains" by Marie Bortolotto 2018

by rivers, then by mountains,

I find my way home;

when last here,

I had no thought or care

for rivers or for mountains.

- Michael McClintock, Tanka poetry

"I just have a dream mountain under the eyelids, 

this is my breath, my life".

- Voytek Kurtyka (Wojciech Kurtyka), 
inspiring Polish Alpinist b. 1947

Every move is a creation,

Maintaining the delicate balance is a creation,

The line is a creation,

Survival is a creation,

Freedom is a creation. 

- Voytek Kurtyka (Wojciech Kurtyka),
Polish Alpinist

I see one single suitable role for my life’s work: 

for it to be a gift to others. 

- Voytek Kurtyka (Wojciech Kurtyka),
Polish Alpinist

Marie Bortolotto

When I Met My Muse

I glanced at her and took my glasses

off—they were still singing. They buzzed

like a locust on the coffee table and then

ceased. Her voice belled forth, and the

sunlight bent. I felt the ceiling arch, and

knew that nails up there took a new grip

on whatever they touched. “I am your own

way of looking at things,” she said. “When

you allow me to live with you, every

glance at the world around you will be

a sort of salvation.” And I took her hand.

- William Stafford, American poet (1914 - 1993)