Last night’s sun-hemmed clouds
recalled my sister’s topographical
globe, the Sierra Nevada a bumpy

brown ridge to run your finger down.
It was what I knew of the world.
Do I know much more today, though

sunsets like yesterday’s now bring
a sigh, a pause, a wondering of how
many more I will see, how many

more the Sierra Nevada will see
and an inkling of which question
is more important?