Why the view matters

I never met him, or

even heard of him,

to be honest, until

the day I hiked up

the almost vertical

trail to the bluff.

I could see for miles;

I even heard cows

on the bluff opposite,

across the river.

Not a majestic view

but one embracing

a notion of horizon.

There was a bench

of weathered stone;

this was the bluff

overlook, after all,

so I sat and inhaled.

Drawn to the view

of distance I almost

missed the rock

at my feet, the rock

with an embedded 

plaque, from a family

grateful for a man

who understood why

the view mattered.

Losing the argument

that I should stay,

I walked back 

to where I started,

a part of the silence.

The editors of Tweetspeak Poetry are hosting a 30-Day, 30-Poem Challenge for Earth Month entitled, appropriately enough, Poetic Earth Month. Today, the featured poem is “Father’s Day” by David Wheeler, and the poetry prompt is to write a poem about someone who has influenced your stance toward the natural world. 

Photograph: Inscribed rock at the Overlook Bluff, Shaw Nature Reserve, Franklin County, Missouri. And yes, that's my foot against the rock.