that long Kansas road
alleviated by teens
learning to drive home
Road Trip 2020, Day Ten
vacation
Road Trip 2020, Day Eight
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
Road Trip 2020, Day Six (Turtles and All)
a creek paddle day
brings every boat together
for swimming and grins
Road Trip 2020, Day Five
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.
Road Trip 2020, Day Four
Kentucky cycles:
you can find happiness in
rolling hills, horse farms
Road Trip 2020, Day Three
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.
Road Trip 2020, Day One
Kansas welcomes us
for our pandemic travel
and his first crossing
Coronatine, Day Eighty-four
from aspens to pines
peaks and creeks guide our soft steps
toward tranquility
Coronatine, Day Fifty-three
we flew this beach kite
on this day seven years back
(a dream in life, Spain)
my daughter, then ten
still finding joy in small things
(as i still try to)
aspen trees at dawn
a pup always by my side
cats learning to love
the kite is gone now.
(i have ransacked every room)
locked down, we let go.
The Mountains Have Called
we’re winning this day
even if it feels like loss
once we leave this slope
Step Write Up 