KINDERHOOK CREEK

for Thaniel, Evie, & Peyton

 

the coolness of the shifting shallows under our feet

a hot day ebbs away in the shade of the pine trees

I’ve hurt myself, careless, every time we’ve gone

letting my blood become another truth of the forest

 

we play “kiss each other clean” through a phone speaker

because our histories have been forged equally in iron and wine

we splash and shriek at the coldness as the sun slips down

cotton candy clouds filling the sky with pinks and purples

 

may we share our secrets equally with each smiling face

holding us through the twilights that arise to match each dawn we see

one more reflection of the ways we hold each other without touching

one frosted sparkling drink flowing down in rivulets from the mountains

 

we’re alive in the coldness, we’re alive in the heat

we’re alive under the ebb and flow of all these hurried minutes

waiting to see ourselves again reflected back in still waters

while what remains rushes around us, seeking as we do