On Earth, We Travel a Thousand Miles Every Hour

                          For David and Anna

Rain is never insurmountable,
and the sun never gets old,

though we plan to, together,
to grow with green things

sprouting at our feet. We
watch new trees become

wise while the landscape
shifts, as it must, and though

Earth spins briskly– almost
beyond what we can fathom–

it has order, being as small
and in love as we are.

We stand on our plot
of land, firm though

flung through time and
space, the universe we

made forever expanding.

(originally published in The Vineyard, Winter 2023)

Landscapes

pray to the clay
and snow
there are canyons
cratered in our hearts
not every landscape
is refined each is full
of fingerprints and colors
undefined through
every ridge
the sandstone
in her face you will find
who you are looking for
in any landscape the forests
your father the mountains
your mother the shifting
desert sand tombs
are caverns you must lose yourself
in memories and forget
the horizon no one
seems so far away
beside the ocean

 

(originally published in Uppagus, Fall 2017)