along a river
this fairy tale ferry stop
has stood a beacon




in muddy waters
kids get to be kids all day
while mamas paddle


nature is our home
found in Kentucky fire
lit by desire



along a river
this fairy tale ferry stop
has stood a beacon




in muddy waters
kids get to be kids all day
while mamas paddle


nature is our home
found in Kentucky fire
lit by desire



there is no escape here.
only evasion.
it’s up this curvy road packed with hill after horse-country hill,
packed with perfect fences and horses whipping their tails,
with cars zooming past, some honking at my hugging-the-shoulder presence as i pedal
pedal
pedal
past these race-won mansions,
these stacked-limestone walls that can’t trap me in or out,
into the sunny, humid heat of midday Kentucky,
so far from home, so far from home,
so near to everything that is hard and easy, up and down these endless hills
in a circle that isn’t a circle.



a creek paddle day
brings every boat together
for swimming and grins




if only these pics were perfect
as perfectly peaceful as they appear
and no one lost a phone (and all the love attached) to a lake
and no one said they hated each other
and no one lied to their mother
and no one cried.


but life isn’t this lake
this quiet Kentucky fishing lake that we ruined with six screaming kids and one barking dog
this peaceful lake for paddling or praying or both
this swimmable, all-ours, wake-free lake.

Life is this lake, isn’t it?
Perfect and not so perfect.

Kentucky cycles:
you can find happiness in
rolling hills, horse farms



nothing like my park
and isn’t that so perfect?
vines, dogs, shade, creeks, peace.


nothing like my path
and isn’t that so perfect?
sun, hills, curves, town, bike.



not what i dreamed of
for our family vacation;
pretty all the same


you wouldn’t believe
how fire Kentucky is
sunsets, family, all


Kansas welcomes us
for our pandemic travel
and his first crossing


here we are swimming
like the pandemic has stopped
on the paddle board

screech owls in our park
cycling through the city
quarantine summer

