dog
Pet Life
What We Can Face
Coloring the Spirit
Road Trip 2022, Day Eleven: Cades Cove
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


Road Trip 2022, Day Eleven: Cades Cove
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


Road Trip 2022, Day Eight: Rainforest
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

Road Trip 2022, Day Three: Kentucky Creekside
Kentucky kayaks
have defined my sister’s life
this past fifteen years

through all the algae
fighting through climate crises
we keep paddling

life is a rope swing
make a running circle out
and don’t hit the tree

those just-jumped-in grins
can win our independence
from a dark future

Pupcut
my newly groomed pup
with his new shovel squeak toy
my baby’s so cute


Pint-Sized Hero
just a spot of tea
for my pint-sized pup hero
(always makes my day)
