This valley
a child
lichen, dwarf fireweed, leggy alder
like first wild locks of hair
clinging with shallow roots
to rock left bare
at birth
when amniotic fluid
like glacier ice
opened up to sky above
and sea below
like stages of life
infancy
childhood
adolescence
adulthood
the greening of this valley
once bare and naked
at the source
glaciers like gods
give life
open up rock and earth
to the sun
releasing raging waters
white as mothers milk
nursing this valley through
its life cycle
lichen
fireweed
alder
spruce
Jonas Lamb 