Yosemite

A place on earth like Heaven must be —

Wild, untamed, yet orderly.

Mountains, valleys, rivers, streams,

Hundred-foot evergreens in teams

In the middle of nowhere, it seems.

In the freezing alpine cascades,

Exhilarated and free,

Surrounded by towers of Cypress and Sequoia

Standing watch over their domain —

We drank the flowing, ice cold water;

Freshly melted, crystal clear,

As El Capitan, Half Dome, and Cathedral Peak

Loomed like imposing, granite watchtowers,

Gleaming brilliantly in reflected sunlight —

Eventually, slowly, fading from sight,

As stars beyond measure lit up the night.

Glen Hines is the author of five books, including the recently published Of Time and Rivers, and the highly-regarded Bring in the Gladiators, Observations From a Former College Football Player Who Was Never Able to Become a Fan, all available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. He is the writer and producer of the book and podcast Welcome to the Machine, available on most podcast platforms. His writing on military service, sports, current events, the outdoors, and the bright and dark sides of American culture has been published in various outlets, such as Sports Illustrated, Task and Purpose, the Human Development Project, Amazon, and Audible.