you made me a stranger

I hiked today to the crest of Indian Seats
the shadows of clouds dotted like raindrops the canopies of the forest, the grassed gaps between trees
on the peak above circling falcons I thought of you & what you would make of me here
so elevated
alone among career hikers & families & smiling couples
I watched as an old woman took a photo with her husband, removed her sunglasses to better kiss his sunburned cheek
I hoped I was not in the background scowling at the horizon, the hulking clouds saddled with rain

miles away a candlestick water tower cast its shadow upon
somewhere, something.