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(Pt. 3)
ain't no map but a man's mind, gal
I might be able to see it on satellite or GPS...
he growls
rocks back and forth twice before answering
just enough to make me wonder
just enough to let me know
technology is no substitute for experience
I've been up to sky level before
not this place, he says, standing
but aren't the best outlooks already setup
for tourists and such?
no
oh
they aren't on the line, they don't set em up
too expensive
tourists are too lazy to go off the line
he taps the napkin map
places it on the counter between us
and writes "entry"
you ever seen some powerful lights
go marching down the valley?
I'm not sure what you mean
you get up at mountain on the last day of fall
right as them leaves bout to jump off them trees
last day of fall before the freeze
don't be late, it turns on a dime
ya can watch em march from that horizon
all the way down to you toes
right out of the sky they come
washin right over you
then they vanish
they put on a show
the sky flashes
swear them clouds move faster
ya'll see it's all a'changed like at
he snaps
then points to a purple cushion
ya like pink?
I like pink
might even be some pink
then black, black everywhere
they put on a show
then them lights go out like poof
mighty powerful
then they come back on
and everything looks damn normal
like it never happened
regular ol end of day sunlight
end of at day'll catch ya off guard
it just goes black after that
black... dark?
he nods
this valley has its own religion
this ain't coal country
they ain't slayed our mountains yet
a man can feel free up ere
even if he never does witness the march
but if he does...
I consider the pencil scrawls
against what land I already know
that doesn't seem so hard, is it that the hike's hard to find?
it ain't so hard, gal
now that I told ya
but then ya gatta come back down that mountain
...and it will be darkening, I realize aloud
he refills his pipe
at's only if ya find your way
on the right day
he slides the napkin across to me
finally giving it over
and don't go tellin no outsiders about the march
don't tell em how to get up ere
they don't respect places we already let em at
I scoop up the rough drawing he made
on a thin napkin
with a gnarled pencil
sharpened with a knife
I'll find it
take some kin with ya
case else ya don't come back
and go see the clog dancers on your way out
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