We Left the Mountains

We left the mountains
Entered the fertile fields
Surrounding Ellensburg
On either side of the highway
Were fields that had definite boundaries
As if God had touched the valley with a tear drop
And turned it into the green eyes of Scarlett O’Hara
Which blinked in the bright sunlight
As we exited toward the Columbian Plateau
Grass fires and crumpled metal
Took our journey to the slow crawl
Giving us time to view the brown landscape
Appreciate the stark and abrupt ending
Of luscious vegetation giving way
To the ancient flood basalts
Of long ago periods of time
Which created hundreds of miles
Of barren, arid rock
Which rose from the sea beds
Creating deep crevices into the land
Where giant rivers were contained

In the sea of brake lights
The realization
That hard times
Are much like these severe divides
Like a light switch flicked
Things can go from verdant to vanishing
Full of reward
Certainty
And the next
Depleted impotence
In this drive
I could see it coming
Admire its differences
See for miles
Prepare

Existence
Offers no advancements
Only sharp curves
Where life changes in a heartbeat