Our class strides single file,
Sweat dribbling down,
Far too tired to even dream
A smile will change each frown.

We climb the final boulder
And there the archway stands;
Between the light and me
Utah’s red rock marvel bends.

The sun glazes the surface
Of the steep side of the arc;
Settling on the shady side
Breathless, I hail Nature’s art.

The red slope is a steep bowl
Higher than I’ve ever known;
The arch soaring on the ledge
Transmits zero at the bone.


Two famous phrases from Emily Dickinson’s poems, one from “I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died,” the other from “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass,” inspired and appear in this poem.