St. Helens

This was written when Mount St. Helens began to be active again, a few years ago.

In Helens crater,
a slab is building,
four or five feet per day--
one small human at a time.

On one side, cold lava,
frozen ooze, crumbled
and falling off in bits,
while to the other side,
an underground river
vents steam
into the ceramic blue sky.

On the top,
it is smooth as asphalt,
with a few disjointed
cracks and fractures.
It ends abruptly there--
a broken blade
pointing at the sky.

It so resembles a narrow road,
I look for the middle line--
the divider for traffic up
and traffic down.
Maybe it is only a one-way road--
only Helens knows.