Dead in the Sierras
by Joaquin Miller
is footprints have failed us,- Where berries are red,
- And madronos are rankest,
- The hunter is dead!
- The grizzly may pass
- By his half-open door;
- May pass and repass
- On his path, as of yore;
- The panther may crouch
- In the leaves on his limb;
- May scream and may scream, -
- It is nothing to him.
- Prone, bearded, and breasted
- Like columns of stone;
- And tall as a pine -
- As a pine overthrown!
- His camp-fires gone,
- What else can be done
- Than let him sleep on
- Till the light of the sun?
- Ay, tombless! what of it?
- Marble is dust,
- Cold and repellent;
- And iron is rust.