Gary Snyder, “Cold Mountain Poem (#12)”
In my first thirty years of life
I roamed hundreds and thousands of miles.
Walked by rivers through deep green grass
Entered cities of boiling red dust.
Tried drugs, but couldn’t make Immortal;
Read books and wrote poems on history.
Today I’m back at Cold Mountain:
I’ll sleep by the creek and purify my ears.
From Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems.
Gary Snyder has been called one of the 20th century’s great nature poets, and is also noted for his connection to the Beats. Read “The Circumambulation of Mt. Tamalpais” and a slew of other poems, and here’s another good starting reference.
27 April 2004 | poetry |
Our Endless and Proper Work is my new book with Belt Publishing about starting (and sticking to) a productive writing practice. 
