it trickles from the lofty crest
to tundra pools in grass and rock
from there it flows in icy streams
that merge atop this massive block
and down it snakes beneath the spruce
through aspen groves and hills of pine
through fragrant woods and meadows gold
through swirling pools and falls divine
this eastward run to san luis
though rather short is very steep
and thence it rumbles o'er the plain
beneath the ramparts broad and deep
and soon it curves to face the sun
and weaves a path across the floor
to bypass domes of molten rock
and cut its way through lava core
for now it lies within the rift
where thinning crust is pulled apart
and on it flows to drier lands
where painted skies are nature's art
past faulted blocks and barren domes
past desert scrub and watered land
it leaves a swath of marsh and wood
before its flow by humans dammed
from here below it angles east
and forms a rift of man's decree
through walls of rock and lush preserve
a final run to meet the sea
