In the distance
I can see the mountains once more
Their jagged peaks
Thrust upwards
Into the clouds
Extending from the Earth below
As if to challenge the sprawling sky above
A reminder
That though the air rests at a higher elevation
It is not above the Earth by any means
That there are natural forces that govern all
– the Earth – the sky – the waters –
And just the same as there are pockets of sky captured beneath the loamy crust
There exist above many layers of soil and sediment
In rings of comets and asteroids
In solar flares and planetary husks
In motes of dust that float the space between, and in time, fall to Earth as flakes of snow
Even now, I can feel the cool air blow gently across the patches of open hillside
Rearranging the smallest pieces of the year-long snow that lies in haphazard piles
Brushing ever so soft against the small blue flowers and tufts of dry, stubborn grass that stand in huddled clumps
In my mind
I am with them once more
My body high above these endless plains
My spirit free
Objects, and the Distance Between Them 