The mountains do not flinch at what the world has done. They hold their silence in granite outcroppings— scarred, still, older than sorrow, yet never indifferent to it.
She came to the ridge where the cold wind weaves between trees older than memory. It touched her like a voice— not kind, not cruel, just knowing.
And that knowing wrapped around her ribs like a truth she never chose to carry.
She stood beneath the pines, her face turned to sky, and the weight of it all finally broke through— tears carving warmth into cheeks too long hardened.
Then her head pressed to my chest— as if to ask if anything was strong enough to stay.
And I knew. I was built for this. To stand right here. To hold what broke her and not let it fall further.
The wind moved on— but something stayed: a stillness a hush
a warmth in the marrow of what had once been frozen.
Not every wind will cut so cold. Not every ache will hold. And not everything un-beautiful was meant to remain that way.
Tomorrow, the trees will still be here. And the creek will still run clear. But so will she— with something inside that now knows:
even the wounded can become the most beautiful thing the mountains have ever seen.
The Black Hills are my home I have friends here, past and present