<\/p>\n
yet again, Forelaufer fades.<\/p>\n
that cabin disappears behind slow crunching<\/p>\n
gravel and quiet chatter<\/p>\n
about locked ski racks, those pinned up family pictures, last night\u2019s<\/p>\n
stolen liquor.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
it builds gradually to droll,<\/p>\n
raucous banter and<\/p>\n
jests: an architecture of egoist pride<\/p>\n
that suggests\u2014<\/p>\n
even in our departure\u2014<\/p>\n
that we think we know this time<\/p>\n
-share and\u2014<\/p>\n
with absolutely no shame\u2014<\/p>\n
that we\u2019re sure we own this place.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
elevation gain feels quick in forests<\/p>\n
you think you\u2019ve seen\u2014<\/p>\n
you think you\u2019re familiar with\u2014<\/p>\n
you even have pictures there\u2014<\/p>\n
we reached our level set of the Pacific Crest and yet had barely even broken a sweat.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
and like always,<\/p>\n
jokes about Percocet and unrest peter out to the sound of<\/p>\n
mountain gust<\/p>\n
insect buzz<\/p>\n
and more yet slow, gravel crunch.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
the occasional passersby<\/p>\n
see only four strangers, kind<\/p>\n
young boys who ask for pictures, share the favor and continue past them,<\/p>\n
forever.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
surely, we know each other better.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
and yet, always more to unearth<\/p>\n
we reach the switchbacks<\/p>\n
and bumble up to the cliffside<\/p>\n
to meet our feet with real earth<\/p>\n
behind the trees we see the lake,<\/p>\n
crystal perfect, known<\/p>\n
non-entropic, it never flickers or waves,<\/p>\n
never changes, always remains<\/p>\n
fixed in our reflections upon past days<\/p>\n
but in our gradient descent,<\/p>\n
converging on that minimum<\/p>\n
suddenly, we alter course, go deeper<\/p>\n
change our minds instead for a lake that hides<\/p>\n
a lake our pictures haven\u2019t been inside.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
we fill up water filters at a new spot<\/p>\n
ripples and pulses across the surfaces warp our images,<\/p>\n
light from new distances<\/p>\n
scatter through dark-field lenses and each of us is<\/p>\n
the same, but different.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
the same people in different places<\/p>\n
new contrasts, new contexts<\/p>\n
a different relaxed state than expected.<\/p>\n
the same four kind boys, best friends since the fourth grade<\/p>\n
constantly meeting each other for the first time, again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jarrod Sage yet again, Forelaufer fades. that cabin disappears behind slow crunching gravel and quiet chatter about locked ski racks, those pinned up family pictures, last night\u2019s stolen liquor. it builds gradually to droll, raucous banter and jests: an architecture of egoist pride that suggests\u2014 even in our departure\u2014 that we think we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"parent":17,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-27","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","clear"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":683,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions\/683"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}