The Peak

Written
1995

The majestic sentinel overseeing Trinidad

        is The Peak.

Snow or cloud covered in the winter,

       green in spring

       too brown in the summer,

        and golden aspen in the fall,.

        its regal beauty beckons the weary traveler.

The sight of it welcomes home Trinidad's children

        from many distant posts

        just as it did for those in covered wagon. 

It's proper name was "Raton Peak".

       but the townsfolk

      call it "Fisher's Peak"anyway.

The young just call it "The Peak".

They don't care what others called it,

       it was just "The Peak" with first springs,

      and the long path to the top.

To climb you up Garfield

       past Jameson's place,

       through the old military cemetery,

      and up the arroyos to First Springs.

There a drink

      of the best cold water anywhere,

      and then on the trail to the table top. 

There the conquered Peak

      rewards young mountaineers.

To the South

        the red sandstone and purple haze canyon lands

       of New Mexico,

       the Spanish Peaks to the West,

       the Greenhorn in the North,

       to the East  nothing

       but the ocean of the plains to the horizon. 

This is the Peak.

Every morning

       it looks down on it's Trinidad people

        and they fell its presence

        and share a sense of the timeless.

It will be there forever,

        an acknowledgement of continuity.          

 

 

Notes
The Peak is the most pronounced landmark for this part of Southern Colorado. On the back side are the mesas where cattle are fattened, It is a glorious sight. On I % driving South from denver it can be seen from Walsenberg close to 30 miles away.