Good-bye Mount Diablo

I’m greeting you from a train
That stops near your foothills.

For many years, I traveled
Around you and your companion
With paints, brushes, and canvas
Admiring the many views
And shapes in light and dark hues
And I liked reading about your legends.
The good times I had hiking
Your woods and meadows
Climbing to your top with a view
No other mountain can match.

Now population growth has
Reached your foothills after
razing extensive walnut groves,
And many huge buildings
Threaten your free stand.
My train is slowly pulling away
As you disappear in
The summer’s haze.
“Good-bye, Mount Diablo!”