mountains
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
Ski Religion
Ode to Winter
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 Ten: Gaps
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
Breathing Through
June: a harried month
with all the joys and sorrows
that make up this life
We’re the Only Ones Here
i didn’t want to
but you made me find beauty
beauty in the snow
Dream Lake
the mountains have called
and windswept lakes make us glow
all these years later
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