Approaching

a Red Southern Oak acorn

flattened saucer-like cup

the single item I bring back

from my first walk on the

Appalachian Trail above Sam's Gap

North Carolina

we hike to variable elevations

cross over, just, into Tennessee

lookouts, scenic hills, breezes,

barely-there rain sprinkles

blackberries, unknown illustrious flowers

elusive fungus, rotted trees, ponds in hollows

a dead three-inch-long baby mole

intact

[RK, 8/9/2020]