I miss six inches
I miss six inches of my walking stick
a sturdy shaft of hickory cut green
in an Alabama wood years and years
ago – long strong and straight but for
a knot and a skew at the end
It served me well – forestalled falls,
tended fires, fended branches,
boulders, snakes, bear
reached often where I could not
supported shelters & weary legs
in and out of nature's grace
Some time back in a fit of aesthetic
correctness I trimmed off the knob
and the bend at the end – looked
so much tidier leaning in the corner
by the fireplace
On the trail again after all this time
I find my fingers go where my staff
isn't
now, when steps are shorter, legs
stiffer, mountains steeper I could
use those extra inches whatever
they looked like
like I did way back when
when the way things worked
trumped the way things looked
Rear-view Mirror
When I put a mirror
to my past, see my life
as others might have seen
the roads not traveled,
turnings missed, meandering
through a maze of
might-have-been
I find I wish I'd spent
less time apart, played
more with my kids,
laughed more with friends,
shared more their concerns,
bared more my heart,
focused more on means
and less on ends.
Though such reflections
show the road behind me
long and littered
with a life's mistakes
the way ahead, though shorter,
may yet find me clearer for
the difference hindsight makes:
While world-won wisdom cannot
rearrange what’s been, we treasure
still the hope of change.
Moments
Never mind that we crossed paths
among the avocado trees
Forget the bright wind tossing
auburn strands across your sagebrush eyes
Forget your sun-warmed hands
that held my arm as if I were a prize
to cherish, not a passing rambler
tumbling down the desert breeze.
Never mind we sat, your arm in mine,
beneath the orange-blossom skies
Forget we lingered as the sunset lined
your upturned face with gold
Forget how lilac shadows swept the hills
bade jasmine flowers unfold
to bathe us in their sweetness
as our small talk settled into sighs.
Never mind that we lay side by side
as seaside night turned bright and cold
Forget we fell into the well of stars
and, on the still-warm sand
soared through uncharted nebulae
in silence, 'til you found my hand
and pressed it to your heart
and pledged together we'd grow old.
Never mind our past
our precious moments shape us as we stand
but know however long the journey
you remain my promised land.
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