Sunset Run

no sunset pictures
 just sore legs from running fast
 alongside my girl
 
 never thought i’d see
 any of mine take to sports
 proud to trek along
 
 
 

Wash Perk

though i might dread this
 still hot, legs sore, lack of sleep
 the view is unmatched
 
 

Denver ReCycled

through cycling
 in and out of neighborhoods
 brick by brick, i fell
 
 love lost, and then won
 bungalow to bungalow
 my city wooed me
 
 the wheels spun me back
 (sold my heart to Cheesman Park)
 from bad-boy breakups
 
 all along back streets
 Park Hill, Cole, Cory Merrill
 like love at first spin
 
 bikes are trendy now
 (they’ll dress like freaks to prove it)
 but my bike love lives
 
 in this uphill ride
 with mountain sunset backdrop
 my girls guiding me
 
 i see them falling–
 street by street, scraped knees and all–
 in love with my love
 
 

Day Dealings

sunset on this day
 can’t capture light nor finish
 what the day has dealt
 
 i’ll run till i die
 or die trying to run free
 from days that chase me
 
 

Love’s Labor Lost

beach day ends summer
 (though it’s already over)
 school can kick our ass
 
 she’ll paddle toward sun
 let weekend sparkles shine through–
 make this week worth it
 
 with our lives packed up
 these small moments so matter
 more than i can say
 
 even with the rain
 that raced us back to our car
 we dried off. and won.
 
 

Smooth Migration

my thousandth visit
 just as pretty as the first
 brings peace to my stress
 
 and seeing her run
 beating her time on day two
 goose wings to the sky
 
 

Cross Country

weekend leftovers
 murmur an early Monday
 in my groaning gut
 
 technology blues
 plague two classes, one meeting
 forced into nonsense
 
 data collection
 begins my singular plan
 till phone rings: sick kid
 
 frazzled packing up
 for a stomach flu faker
 then two extra kids
 
 but that is not all!
 cross country registration
 at the last moment
 
 my middle girl runs!
 two days a week, a new plan:
 laps around the park
 
 (he can cook dinner–
 we’ll eat late like back in Spain,
 shed this U.S. stress)
 
 and i will run too–
 take tree-lined tech-free views home
 (run free, not ragged)
 
 
 
 

Day Eighteen, Road Trip 2015

sunrise silent view
 collecting glacial water
 from my hometown lake
 
 impossible sights
 832 steps
 made by miracles
 
 spring water fill up
 waterfall wonderment walk
 distant valley view
 
 lunch at the vineyard
 blue as sky midday lake taste
 (feast as delicious)
 
 swim in clear waters
 girls fearless of bottom plants
 wet fun in cool lake
 
 grade school best friends meet
 each of us toting three kids
 (could have been our life)
 
 but i’ll take this view:
 journeys home–here, everywhere
 all have a sunrise
 
 

By Heart

a freshwater lake
 found from memory; a hike
 better baptism
 
 childhood relived
 through my daughters’ newfound strokes
 saltlessly sweet taste
 
 coves around corners
 wind-whipped waves licking the shore
 new memories made
 

Bike to Work Day

battle scars unwashed
 floods, fallen trees, tornadoes
 nothing but the bike