ABOVE PHANTOM — January 1989

Half an hour from the valley floor
 A stone settee looks north and west:
We watch the setting sun before
 I t’s time to go below and take our rest.

Shadows draw their purple veils
 In measure dignified and calm,
As higher on the canyon walls
 Sun and earth perform a nightly pavane.

Earth bows. Soon only the highest layers
 Are lighted. Above and crowning them all
Cream-white, green-veined, triangular,
 A Zoroaster Temple citadel.

Sunset colors grow more intense
 From blush to pink, to orange, cerise–
Relentless pulse of hues advance
 To irradiate the living, glowing frieze.

Crimson and scarlet lend their essence.
 With caressing strokes the flinty peak
Is wooed by cosmic incandescence
 And loves, succumbs, uplifts her burning cheek.

Too late. The sun bears destiny.
 With Grace primordial and sublime
The suitor spurns his Galatea,
 Obeys the rhythmic sovereignty of time.

The citadel fades, as gray as death,
 Ancient, aloof, beyond chagrin,
While restless dreams of fiery youth
 Still stir the fibers of spirit deep within.

Comments

Phantom Ranch lies in the depth of the Grand Canyon.

[John Alvord – 11/25/2025]

->