Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
William BagleySeptember 08, 2008

The substance of God
is in the hills.

In their lines, their
color, their voices.

In the deep purple of
dusk, fiery red of
autumn, in the
black branches of
the winter
time.

In the snap of the
screen door
in the porch voices,
and the first at bat
of a reluctant spring.
In confidences.
In swung fence gates.

It is the very frame
of the hills, their
juts and crags, trails,
pools, descending
roads.

It is buried under snow, blows
with leaves in fall and spring,
sits still in summer heat.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

As we enter into Holy Week, join America Media for a subscriber-only virtual event with James Martin, S.J., and ‘Jesuitical’ hosts Zac Davis and Ashley McKinless.
America StaffApril 01, 2025
“Having a sensory room in a place of worship is probably more important than anywhere else because everyone should feel welcome in their faith.”
Sean QuinnApril 01, 2025
Sports hasn't always been the most popular topic among America's editors and contributors—unless it was the Grand Old Game, baseball.
James T. KeaneApril 01, 2025
A joint Catholic-Evangelical report found that an overwhelming majority of people impacted by the Trump administration's mass deportations are Christian.