Day: May 28, 2020

We were talking,
My son and I as we
climbed and hiked
through the mountains
in Salt Lake City
What is this path call I asked
Davenport Trail he replied
How did it get that name?
There is a long flat rock
where people sit to rest 
It is like a couch so they
called the trail after it
 
Watch for snakes he said
There’s one now but
it was just a little one
They are the worst as
their venom is powerful
It reminds me of that
line drawing I bought in
Santa Fe at a thrift store of
a guy jumping over a snake
You have to be careful
 
Funny how they name streets
Library Street by the Library
Forest Avenue, University Avenue
State Street, Main Street
Washington, Jefferson and Madison
Apple, Walnut, Maple, and Cedar
First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth
There is a reason for all
There is an antidote of
a women in Des Moines,
the capitol of Iowa
who was goosed on Grand,
but thought it was Pleasant
 
Out where I live they are
mostly county roads so
they are all numbered
Not in numerical order either
so you just have to know
They are mostly gravel but
some are paved
Keep watching for snakes, Dad
You have to know that, too       

Stanski  
May 28, 2020 ^
 
 

We have snowshoes
June doesn’t call for them
But then you never know
How far north you might go
 
We try to get closer
Than ever before to
Those that have gone on
To that distant shore
 
How many years older
At least fifty it seems
Back in your childhood
Now you have dreams
 
We could not sense their struggle
Always seemed like a holiday
Abstract existence in warped time
What words, if you could, would you say?
 
We could climb mountains
Or be willing to try
Just to get closer
For one more goodbye
 
Love cannot grasp it
That sense of belonging
No one let go
Yet there’s that longing
 
Magical times in young minds
Who thought it would always go on
Grandpa and grandma forever
But no it ended, they’re gone
 
The laughter and the nonsense
Oh!  To get it back
The power for a miracle
Is something that we lack
 
We wish there was a road there
All we had to do was drive
Start in reverse and travel real fast
To when they were still alive
 
No, the world turns
We’re left with a prayer and a hymn
And the truth is
We have become them
 
Stanski
May 28, 2020 ^