Porcelain Basin Contemplations, Yellowstone National Park

Ensconced in an alabaster landscape beneath a darkly sodden sky, porcelain jewels effuse their turquoise wisdom. Sulfured steam escapes fumarole shafts and wafts along the horizon, obscuring the distant summit of the stately Mount Holmes. A churning gurgle rumbles underfoot as a diminutive geyser flings its scalding shower skyward. Along the centuries of liquid pathways, oxidized traces swirl a brilliant palette in vivid patterns of otherworldly hues. We contemplate in this lifeless land a frightening prospect for a world relinquished to its acidic origins.

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