Mount Pisgah
Up Mount Pisgah we
walked down a muddy path to
a seasonal stream
now snow-covered ice
with water flowing beneath.
On the other side,
the trail rose up dry
but shadowy, the sun just
peaking through white pines.
When we left those trees
behind for red oak, the sun
shone through absent leaves.
Everything was bright
from there to the top, across
Berlin Road, then right
along old stone walls
from when Pisgah was pasture
to where the hill falls
away underneath
broad stone outcroppings. There, we
sat to catch our breath,
enjoy Swiss chocolate,
and see Boston, across so
much Massachusetts.
Andrew Shields lives in Basel, Switzerland. His collection of poems Thomas Hardy Listens to Louis Armstrong was published by Eyewear in June 2015. His band Human Shields released the album “Somebody’s Hometown” in 2015 and the EP “Défense de jouer” in 2016.