{"id":3843,"date":"2013-05-12T11:28:54","date_gmt":"2013-05-12T19:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newagrarian.com\/?p=3843"},"modified":"2013-05-12T11:28:54","modified_gmt":"2013-05-12T19:28:54","slug":"nine-miles-along-the-eno-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.davidwalbert.com\/dw\/2013\/05\/12\/nine-miles-along-the-eno-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine miles along the Eno River"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday I hiked the portion of North Carolina’s Mountains to Sea Trail<\/a> that runs along the Eno River, about nine miles from Roxboro Road in Durham through West Point on the Eno Park, across Guess Road into the Eno River State Park, and then to Pleasant Green in Orange County. One day, when the trail is complete, I hope to hike the whole state. For the moment, this will have to do.<\/i> <\/p>\n

These are my snapsnots from the walk. <\/i><\/p>\n\n

The rains part like a curtain; the underbrush
\nStirs with sultry buzz and hum. Summer?<\/p>\n

Goose on the river watches my confusion:
\nWhich way the trail? Which hue the blaze?
\nHe’s not telling.<\/p>\n

I sit and rest by spring’s last bluets,
\nPale and drooping in the summer heat.<\/p>\n

The sycamore leans out over the river,
\nStretched root to branch like a diver ready to leap,
\nStripping his bark as he goes.<\/p>\n

Swallowtails loop around the weeds
\nIn search of some forgotten nectar,
\nWhile laurel clings to rocks above. <\/p>\n

\"mountain<\/a><\/div>\n

Two dozen turtles and a vizsla.<\/p>\n

Through the reeds and under the bridge, like a rat
\nGo I, while grimly rusted girders form
\nA cathedral’s arch alive with darting swallows.<\/p>\n

A hundred feet away, civilization
\nRoars along wherever in hell it’s going —
\nTremendous racket, but it’s my boots in the brush
\nThat spook the deer.<\/p>\n

Atop the bridge, the wide-flung view of eagles
\nOr vultures. What was distinct, unique, has now become
\nGeneric. The rat has a better view.<\/p>\n

Damp and stinking he emerges
\nBlinking in the light of day and the city.
\nUnimpressed. He goes back down.<\/p>\n

An ancient millstone, come to earth
\nRetiring useless by a crumbling chimney,
\nGround to ground instead of grinding.<\/p>\n

No! Not useless yet: A snake uncoils
\nFrom broken mortar, black against the stone
\nIn hope of sun. –The rat hastens on.<\/p>\n

\"tree<\/a><\/div>\n

The cool brown canvas of the forest floor
\nBeset by gray stone, white branch, orange straw,
\nRampaged upon by myriad greens, and here
\nAlone and still, electric blue? That shade
\nDoes not belong. –Cool Ranch Doritos.<\/p>\n

Another chimney, neatly bricked its hearth,
\nIn a care-set stone foundation now beseiged
\nBy moss. The living room of ghosts.<\/p>\n

A red-shouldered hawk spreads light-barred wings
\nIn sweeping sun and soars into the trees
\n–Rodent dangling. Relax, friend:
\nI brought my own lunch.<\/p>\n

Lunch, sheltered by ironwoods and nostalgia:
\nRaisin bread, summer sausage, an apple.
\nA sandpiper snags a water strider, and boasts.<\/p>\n

Perched on the remnants of ruined lives,
\nConfronted by vistas I cannot reach:
\nAn ordinary day, plus crumbling bricks.<\/p>\n

Three rocks perched upon a log
\nAs if a sign to point my way
\nTo wisdom! From some lost civilization.
\n–Or aliens! Or just a child
\nAt play in the woods. For play at times
\nCan look like wisdom. Don’t be fooled.<\/p>\n

\"rocks<\/a><\/div>\n

The stream, ever conformist, races
\nOver rocks and ridges to join its brethren.<\/p>\n

Deer bound naked through the wood
\nAnd crash into the stream.
\nBy two o’clock, I envy them.<\/p>\n

(Actually, for all who pass
\nThis way, I might, and not be crass.)<\/p>\n

My pants! My pants are falling down.
\nIt’s not so late; have I lost weight
\nAlready? Or are they just sweaty?<\/p>\n

\"sign:<\/a><\/div>\n

The sun well past its zenith, the breeze and birds have stilled.
\nOnly I and the midges keep going.<\/p>\n

Danger! Danger! This way lie
\nCliffs and rocks and thorns too!
\nIf you go on you’ll surely die!
\nDon’t say we didn’t warn you!
\nBurma Shave<\/p>\n

Bodyless, the heads of boys like buoys bob
\nUpon the greening water. <\/p>\n

\"Carolina<\/a><\/div>\n

The day at last has dwindled
\nInto muddy ripples, an anticlimax
\nBut soothing to the feet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Friday I hiked the portion of North Carolina’s Mountains to Sea Trail that runs along the Eno River, about nine miles from Roxboro Road in Durham through West Point on the Eno Park, across Guess Road into the Eno River State Park, and then to Pleasant Green in Orange County. One day, when the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[17,18],"tags":[133,179,247,403],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8I1ci-ZZ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.davidwalbert.com\/dw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3843"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.davidwalbert.com\/dw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.davidwalbert.com\/dw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidwalbert.com\/dw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidwalbert.com\/dw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3843"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidwalbert.com\/dw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6588,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidwalbert.com\/dw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3843\/revisions\/6588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.davidwalbert.com\/dw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidwalbert.com\/dw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidwalbert.com\/dw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}