The Quiet Has a Way

[Verse 1] I left the trail where the switchbacks end, Past the last blue sign and the stunted pine. My hands were cold on the camera body, The ridge was holding its breath in time. [Pre-Chorus] Then a thin gold edge found the farthest peak, And the valley took its color slow. I waited while the small things stirred— A wingbeat, a bead of thawing snow. [Chorus] I keep the moments most folks pass by, A fox track stitched where the frost runs white. One blade of grass catching first light, A cloud unfastening from the height. I don’t ask the mountain to stay or explain; I frame what appears, then let it go. The quiet has a way of saying enough Before the whole wide world can know. [Verse 2] A pika slipped through the broken granite, With one bright mouthful of alpine green. I lowered the lens and watched it vanish, No shutter could keep that exact in-between. [Pre-Chorus] The sun climbed clear of the eastern wall, And the old snow softened into blue. I found the picture i came to make Was the one i never had to prove. [Chorus] I keep the moments most folks pass by, A fox track stitched where the frost runs white. One blade of grass catching first light, A cloud unfastening from the height. I don’t ask the mountain to stay or explain; I frame what appears, then let it go. The quiet has a way of saying enough Before the whole wide world can know. [Bridge] Years from now, someone may pause there, At a print no bigger than their hand. They’ll see the light cross that lonely summit— Not the miles it took to stand. Maybe that is what a photograph can do: Leave a little room for wonder to come through. [Final chorus] I keep the moments most folks pass by, The first warm stripe on the granite face. A raven turning above the timberline, The day beginning without a trace. I don’t ask the mountain to stay or explain; I frame what appears, then let it go. The quiet has a way of saying enough Before the whole wide world can know. [Outro] The trail bends down through the waking pines; The peak keeps the gold a little while.