Great Sand Dunes National Moument (Poem)

Great Sand Dunes National Monument

Alamosa, Colorado

By Carole Shukle

Copyright 1999

Deep green trees, rounded

like topiaries,

dot the rolling, kelly-green

hills in the foreground. 

In the far distance

tall mountain peaks stand

straight like soldiers saluting the valley

below.  They wear snow caps

with pointy white fingers stretching

downward meeting

their army green uniforms.

Puffy, gray clouds perch low

to the horizon and stare with grumpy

eyes threatening to cry on the wonders below.

For eons winds whipped the sand

into gigantic, rippling dunes. 

These moving mountains

kneel at the feet of the foot soldiers,

captured and jailed, with no way of escape.

A queue of fifty hikers,

like a line of tiny ants marching to a picnic,

attempt to scale her sides.

Shadow and light play across golden dunes

creating a surreal ever-changing canvas of color

and texture.

At the base of the dunes, a lazy river

flows at ankle depth with no banks

to hold it deep.  Children frolic.

I wonder who kidnapped the dune

from its mother, the sea,

and hid it here for us to ponder.

Such a mystery--I snapped the shot.