exercise
Small Moments Make a Day
a touch of snowfall
brings beauty to commuting
and calms my heartache

my name in Dari
made for me by my student
language: such a gift

As Bright As Snow
Ski Reverie
ski day reverie
filled with powder grins,
soft turns, silent flakes
always a long day
yet happiness takes its time
falling from the sky

SkyView
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 Seven: Share the Road
tractors welcome here
along these hilly horse farms
(barns worth more than homes)


you’ll rarely pass cars
as you meander back roads
in this life cycle


you might find castles
hidden in the morning mist
waiting to fill you

locally grown food
waiting at a king’s table
between life cycles


don’t let the rain win
it’s a porch-swing afternoon
filling this cycle



Road Trip 2022, Day Five: Tree Heaven
the sound of leaf breeze
is impossible to miss
from the top? perfect



there’s just nothing like
five giddy little-teen girls
breathing us all in



our poor Daddy
outnumbered seven to one
without one complaint

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

Breathing Through
June: a harried month
with all the joys and sorrows
that make up this life





