she may look little
but like me she’s tough as nails
despite your warnings
she knows what she wants–
we drove three thousand miles
to snorkel today
yes, she’ll face high swells
and stay within my arm’s reach
but she won’t give up.
never doubt my girls.
there’s too much of me in them
and we’re warriors.
we pick up lizards
and make millipedes our pets
and chase iguanas
we make our dreams true
with each setting sun, moon rise
–doesn’t matter where.
on a perfect day
with music following us
on every corner
i sometimes get trapped
in thoughts of poverty, loss
(also on corners)
my girls all grinning
taking pics and buying gifts–
the perfect white life
yet anger jumps out
from car windows and bar doors,
a cruel reminder:
we’re not all equal.
some of us can ride trolleys,
take month-long road trips.
others beg for change
with thin plastic drinking cups
that they’ll fill later
in all this joy: grief.
vacations are like heaven
mixed with sorrow
teary pet goodbye
gives way to mountains and plains
peppered by gray sky
storms hover past us
as curvy roads snake Texas
with speeds much too high
we drive till sunset,
kiss the red canyon good night,
find our hobbit hole
baby blooms her legs
on a twenty-mile trek
through city of dreams
just capture this light
bright enough to block the night
and fight the good fight
history’s learned best
when you can see it firsthand
in a child’s eyes
biking out to brunch:
way to tackle a cool day
during midsummer
fun with the youngest
my flower amongst the blooms
that give us this life
eight miles of views
captured between bickering
parenting is hard
night still and windless
quakeless aspen leaves above
as you make me quake
Step Write Up 