Bucket List Day

Monument Valley:
the perfect sunrise rest stop
to light our faces

snow at Grand Canyon:
surprise bucket list side trip
to catch her snowfall

all three together:
it feels like a bucket list
to let them g(r)o(w)

More-ab

if i could live here
it would be a peaceful life
under a rainbow

a magical place:
the only way to describe 
these teenage smiles

even pup loves it 
cycling past wildlife
below the Smokies

where can you see bears
and collect salamanders 
under the same sun?

this mountain-framed pic
taken on the same soil
twenty-three years past

we’re fatter, older
while the mountains are hotter;
such is life—sad changes

yet look at our girls
fearlessly taking this on
one moon-wing a time

a magical place:
the only way to describe 
these teenage smiles

even pup loves it 
cycling past wildlife
below the Smokies

where can you see bears
and collect salamanders 
under the same sun?

this mountain-framed pic
taken on the same soil
twenty-three years past

we’re fatter, older
while the mountains are hotter;
such is life—sad changes

yet look at our girls
fearlessly taking this on
one moon-wing a time

i can’t capture this:
the words, the joy, the city
it’s all in this swing

i can’t capture them
filled with adolescent angst
yet so forgiving

a summer road trip
(there’s not without one)
they live it, breathe it

i can’t capture stress 
it won’t fit in this market
nor on this road home

no high gas prices 
can stop this reunion’s joy
after five weeks gone

my baby's driving
(i can't believe she's fifteen)
and finding her way

with a perfect score
my youngest surprises me
(she’s ready to drive)

before the long drive,
enjoy the perfect park. shop.
soak up cousin time.

eat your sister’s meal
till the next time you see her.
too long (just too long).

your daughters will drive.
together, we can make it.
we will rule the night.

it’s all we can rule
with the oldest off to school
we can rule the night.