Morro Rock

This rock is a soul

bared to the world.

A frenzied, seething

inner mass, subdued

and calm at last.

A center slowly solidified

into crystalline form.

It stands alone and naked now,

disrobed and freed

from its trappings.

It has all eroded away,

the overflowing lip,

the flare ups, the venting,

the wild eruptive nights,

the show and tell,

the once so fiery flows.

It is all gone,

flurries of ash in the night,

brittle rock that left no trace.

Now, there is only this core,

this fortress that sways

and floats like a phantom

in the ocean mist.

A mountain of hardened granite,

radiant rock that endures,

glistening in the soft morning sun.

                                Herlinde Spahr