Matthew R. Callies

Snowline Tracker

Cold morning.

A tricolor line

moves softly

through the drift.

The forest holds its breath

as you pass.

 

Low nose down,

you read what the wind

tries hiding

under frost.

Each step writes quiet proof

of the trail.

 

Lean hunter,

you are patience made

into bone—

then sudden

as a struck match, you’re

already gone.