Mountain Goat

There is always a goat right before you. Visions of mountains await you. He is moving from space of infinite things, Amongst peonies and twining vines, ever onward, Drifting about aimlessly, Capturing the stability of the mountains.

He is the palatable herb of nature, And you must climb the heights of being, To find the complete truth of life, Content, for now, in his presence.

Goat cannot complete the journey alone, But must touch each boulders’ rocky side. And upon his ascent, elephants serenade, Each lyrics inspiring the vision of beauty Only the enlightened could ever fully give.

For the meaning of the goat Must be established By the stillness next to his mass, must then Be no more than a moment, fallout from the sky.

• Wallace Stevens