Mountain Stream

The bellowing downstream rush
of the sparkling, frothing
mountain stream fills the air
with sound and fury,
the delicate spray permeating
the landscape of stunted oak
and hemlock whose roots
desperately grip tight upon
the shallow soil deposited aeons ago
on the granite shield of the mountain.
The bleached corpse of an ancient
pine once towering proudly on
the mountain slope, now bridges
the sides of the stream,
slowly decaying, amid the
huge erratics tossed down the 
mountain side straddling the
rocky depression, host to the
frantic watery rush, the
afternoon sun sliding between
frothy dark clouds 
crowding the dome of the sky
sets the stream ablaze like a
ribbon of dissolved diamonds.