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

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

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

the sun follows us
across six midwestern states
and lights these fires

firecrackers rule
the soft sunset in the hills 
of Kentucky

we discover shade
from the afternoon fire
with native trees; food

a "staff shortage" day
everything canceled with tracks
(hope thinner than ice)

finally, some snow
pretty enough for a pic
to wipe hopelessness

what if sunset geese
were the best part of their day,
of their lives thus far?

a museum trip
to learn English with a twist
and these masked smiles

i drive buses now 
because taking them places
is what matters most

the joy in their eyes
as they immerse themselves 
is universal

like a golden cloud
this aspen cheers up the pines
rather than pining