when you did not return
all the Flathead recoiled in horror
its glacier formed valleys
could not bear the pain
that radiates from this point
icy fingers grasping
across the winter range
shattering rock and tree
the elk herds left
for there is no grass
left to feed on
the river itself
speeds up as it passes
as not to absorb
a single poison tear
that lines the shore
like the ice that carved all this
I retreat
for there is no reason
left to stay
