Still Here

after so many years

the good and the bad

the joy and the pain

the highs and the lows

through youth and vigor

through illness and aging

I am still here

and so are you

The Trail

we met at a trail

on a summer day

the sky so blue

the air so clear

our path it seemed

would be the same

our mutual goal 

a distant peak

so off we trudged

our packs so light

a steady climb

through fields and wood

the peak ahead

a sunlit dome

til lost behind

the crowded trees

and then we reached

a wall of rock

with several routes

to skirt its mass

so there we split

each choosing one

thinking that

we'd meet above

but we were lost

our paths diverged

and why that choice

I'll never know 

 

Fear

nature's gift

to keep us safe

a tool of man

to shake our will

endured by some 

a badge of faith

a dark detour

from reason's path

a warning born

from deep within

a conscious choice

to take no chance

a learned excuse

to stay the course

a wayward trail

from freedom's path  

 

South Platte

born in peaks 

and fed by snow 

she carved her path 

through walls of rock 

beyond those hills 

a city sprawled 

her bounty sought 

her floods endured 

so dams and chutes 

control her flow 

and woods she spawned 

now fade to dust 

but on she rolls 

across the plains 

her power drained 

her glory lost

Note: Initially published in November, 2009