The White Mountains in Early June

by Terri Kirby Erickson

Sky-blue in the forefront, fading to cream
in the distance, the White Mountains
of New Hampshire rise from jade-green fields
and dark evergreen forests, to merge, on this overcast
day, with low-hanging clouds. Hazed over by
some alchemy of air and light, these majestic peaks
and valleys could be living creatures, stilled
by sleep—a dreamscape filled by birch trees and red
spruce, alpine blueberries and bog laurel.
And between the surging wind and birdsong,
the whine of swarming insects and the hiss of pine
needles gently swaying, there are pauses,
as if a breath is being held and then released,
perhaps the sigh of a lupine when the blue
butterfly finds its flower.

Bio: Terri Kirby Erickson is the author of five collections of poetry, including Becoming the Blue Heron (Press 53). Her work has appeared in American Life in Poetry, Asheville Poetry Review, Atlanta Review, The Christian Century, The Sun Magazine, The Writer’s Almanac, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Verse Daily, and numerous other publications. Among her many awards are the Joy Harjo Poetry Prize, Atlanta Review International Publication Award, and a Nautilus Silver Book Award. She lives in North Carolina. For more information about her work, visit www.terrikirbyerickson.com.

Feature image of the White Mountains © Terri Kirby Erickson, 2018, used by permission