Ayuh to Z Challenge - U

 My theme: Book Titles A to Z written by Maine authors,
and a poem for that title each day for the month of April.
The poem is not about the book, but is written with the title as inspiration!
Scoot to the bottom if you are here for Poetry Jam!  You'll find the Desert there!
 Welcome to U!

U is for:

Up the Mountain

written and illustrated by Charlotte Agell

Up the Mountain

Haystack Mountain, Castle Hill, Maine, taken by me

Up the Mountain

I set out to go up the mountain
it wasn’t very high
mountains in Maine do not grow much
before they touch the sky
the path was easy to follow
though roots and rocks were rife
much like the path we follow
as we wander throughout life
squirrels ahead took refuge
in trees as I passed by
chipmunks scampered into holes
both creatures “stranger shy”
I wondered how it seemed to birds
to be soaring free and high
and suddenly in their endless view
see a point of land in sky
an island peak to stop a while
if they were needing rest
like the boulder kindly offered me
as the mountain’s honored guest
sunlight filtered through tree limbs
to needles that still crinkled
and ledges where the rain and dew
lay in secret pools and twinkled
zigzagging up the steep incline
I kept pushing on, ascending
as shadows thinning overhead
foretold the climb was ending
domain of wind and hawk
atop the mountain keep
where even pine trees had no hold
on ledges hard and steep
upon the crest of mountain
I surveyed the land around
past the roads I’d traveled
above any human sound

trees and hills crossed my view

I touched the sky and cloud

eye level with the clear horizon

I felt the quiet so loud 

there's beauty always up there

and the beauty is what's below

you have to climb away from it

so you can see the show

up the mountain you will find
this view of life is rare
things below impose up close
hiding what all mountains share
when I traveled up the mountain
I learned there's more to see
a happily ever after
up the mountain there for me

©Donna JT Smith, 2014

Up the Mountain is a young child's book about four friends that go up a mountain on a not so sunny day, but spend the day together on their trek, which ends up in a nice day.

Charlotte Agell's website
http://us.macmillan.com/author/charlotteagell
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and

Uncle Tom's Cabin

by Harriet Beecher Stowe

(not a young child's book, but I couldn't leave her out)

Harriet Beecher Stowe lived in Brunswick, Maine, when she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin.  Her husband was teaching at Bowdoin College there from 1851-1853.
Uncle Tom's Cabin Available through Amazon here.
Download and listen to Uncle Tom's Cabin at this site - LibriVox.  It is in the public domain now.
Online text of Uncle Tom's Cabin here.
or a variety of ways here, Kindle included.

This post was brought to you by the letter U!

Unnerving!

If V would please step forward...>>>>Clear the way, please>>>>

Poetry Jammers...I had a couple more minutes to concoct this:

Deliriously Delicious Diamante

Desert
arid, camel-filled
scorching, evaporating, shifting
erosion, dunes, indulgence, confection
savoring, craving, indulging
moist, caramel-filled
Dessert 

©Donna JT Smith, 2014

AND inspired by Wendy Burke's line: "it was hard to tell the deserts from the seas"

From the Desert to the Sea

Desert
arid, rocky
scorching, evaporating, shifting
erosion, dunes, sand, waves, erosion
chilling, pounding, churning
misty, deep
Sea

©Donna JT Smith, 2014