Ski Religion

Breathe. Wait.

post-pandemic flight
the first for me; with my girls
to steal a weekend

beautiful DC:
the center of our country,
sordid past exposed

a bar mitzvah morn
in year five-seven-eight-three
from our first beliefs

a city forest
walking distance from temple 
Shabbat salom. Peace.

my happy daughters
finding books, happiness, love
on our girls’ weekend

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

through Cumberland Gap
we drive down to Tennessee 
and stand in three states

it’s been many years
(the gap between visits here)
and everything’s changed

Pappy’s room is new
with the antique furniture 
from their grandparents

a whole new kitchen 
to fill Donna’s empty nest
with the light of love

this generation 
will take the time to teach them
and fill in the gaps

they’ll learn who came first,
what they fought for, what they lost;
close gaps, open eyes

Kentucky River
holds the morning cliff paddle 
(limestone for horses)

you can’t find this view
west of the Mississippi 
(where it’s drought, drought, dry)

here? just paddling
along the river, the creek
till you find yourself

you might find turtles 
(soft shells, even, a bonus)
as you move along

just like the sliders
they slip into the water
hoping for the best

Kentucky has coal
but also cool rainforests 
(midsummer cooldowns)

enough rain will fall
in two days to flood a creek
drunk by my puppy

water is the life
that sustains these roadside farms
its blood for our blood