Come now child, here now child,

You with the clear eyes

We will leave this valley floor and

Ascend San Jacinto’s snowy heights

Rising rose in twilight’s blushing glance.

 

They say this peak was named for a boy

Who defied an emperor and dying, deified –

Joined the empyrean company clothed

In the same stars this promontory scrapes.

 

They say a mountain is but a moment

In deep time, a terrestrial wave

That water and wind will wear down,

That runs the course of all empires –

Descending to desolation.

 

I say this mountain lives forever

In the moment you and I look upon it,

Forever for the brave boy who

Gave it his name,

Forever in this moment:

This ladder between heaven and earth.

 

©Jedidiah Paschall – February 27, 2019

 

Note: Mt. San Jacinto is a prominent feature on the northeastern horizon near my hometown. It was named after the early second century Christian Martyr, Hyacinth of Caesarea.