I lift up my eyes to Diablo

looming over the bay, a diadem of gold and green

spreading its dun folds down to its urban skirts

I lift up my eyes to Tamalpais

a sharp jut of rock wrapped in chapparal

and wreathed in fog that burns away in summer sun

I lift up my eyes to Pedernal

black mesa lifted high above pinon forest

and red rock desert

holding up the grand sky of New Mexico

underlining ever-changing moods of color and shadow

I lift up my eyes to Whitney

a dark wall on the east side of the Sierra

the granite teeth of its peak catching the setting sun

that casts a faint effulgence over their shadows

I lift up my eyes to the Minarets

The cathedral ridge of Mount Ritter and Mount Banner

Spires and organ pipes in silhouette

Against a sky thick with stars.

I lift up my eyes to the hills

And see that there is something — Someone —

infinitely more powerful and mysterious than I am

forcing them up from the plains

And I remember that this same Someone

creates and keeps me

and thrills me with this urge

to lift up my eyes to the hills.