Paint & Poetry: Summer 2025

Montana Alchemy
by Al Hyhart

You’re too much
in front of me,
I don’t have to reach.

Being here is easy—
everything always so,
no difference in what to know.

The sound
of your second syllable
makes me stand up straight.

Sunrise in Hyalite
by Brad Breunig

The sun takes a little longer to reach this side of the canyon
but I have the warmth of coffee, and of memories, to keep me
while the light makes its way across each lodgepole pine.

Then I’ll walk down the path to the creek and drift a fly
down through the ripples and the holes to see
if the trout are ready to rise.

And later, when I’m older, I’ll think back on these cabin days
and wonder if this new memory I’m making was real
or if it was simply a dream of what I thought my life could be.

Summer Haikus
by Mike England

Dawn
Infant light breathes out,
Exalting shapeless masses;
Time and Life begin.

Nature
Plastic by a tree,
Earth is washed away by rain,
And mud begot man?

Infinity
Darkness is desert
We look beyond for mountains
Within them is hope

Obsession
Predatory hunch
Eyes on a drifting feather
Waiting for a splash

Variety
The bluebird alights,
On unseen wind floats the hawk;
The poor crane clambers.

In This Way
by Noah Davidson

In a sacred manner
I live
In the mountains
I find peace
In the valleys
I pray
In the highs and lows
I'm steady
In my song
I sing
In my time of wrong
I accept
In the good fight
I’m ready
In my life
I tried
In the dark
I see
In my time to die
I’m strong
In the winds
I am
In your heart
I stay
To the heavens
I gazed

This poem was inspired by a traditional Oglala Sioux song, circa 1860s.