The winter world on Mt. Washington’s eastern slope was in black and white on Tuesday, when David and I fulfilled our intention to get above tree line for February. We hiked into the alpine zone at the base of Tuckerman’s Ravine, on a wide well-packed trail. Before we left on our hike we could see we’d be hiking into the cloud cover over the mountain. The view above tree line was of snow, cloud, and dark spruce trees below, mounded with white. The monochrome day reminded me of a poem from years ago.
Absence or Everything
Moon laced through cold
curtains, the world
in black and white
since the last storm.
Glass feathers freeze,
skin seeks skin, vision
blurs as if walking
into winddriven snow.
The bedroom pinkens,
yet still, outside,
monochrome
trees, fields, fences, sky.
Grace Mattern 