The lemur moves stealthily like a cat
and sits Buddha's style on the jungle's mat.
She guards her offspring as a mother lion
whileleaping in to lead the battallion.
Her raccoon tail serves as rallying point or warning
for fellow tribesmen or the unwelcomed loitering.
But is it surprising that these jungle elves
we humans see a bit of ourselves?
I am the daughter of
Dr. Z, the Bug Lady and
Ranger Bob, the Poparazzi
I am the granddaughter of
Little Dottie Mack
an Italian colomel in the US army
a young girl from Yonko Crek
and a Navy enlisted man who
had never heard of Pearl Harbor
before the Arizona went down.
I do not have to speakeasy anymore
about my bootlegging great-great grandmother Carrie
or her undertaker first love.
I laugh at my great grandfather's attempt
to put a Russian Dancing bear
in his Packard car.
But I am reverent when I hear about
his fiery alcoholism
and his stay at the psych ward.
My ancestors were
patriots and fighters
The sun beams spot the forest floor
warming the moss growing beneath our feet.
Homer runs ahead to make sure the way is safe
but we call him back when we can no longer see him.
He comes running to us obediently,
his short Boston-terrier legs carrying him quickly over fallen logs.
We stop where the creek splits in two,
where Monty's cabin sits gutted and unused.
Homer dances in the water as we recline,
resting against the large boulders peppering the property.
The moss is thicker here, providing much needed padding to ground.
Homer's ears perk up, he stops his dancing.
The three of us freeze as the call comes again.
"Hom
Winding up through Virginia
to her western sister
there is a nothing on this stretch of asphalt
except vast green pastures
with brown, black, and white cows mooing;
nothing except the ancient Appalachians
standing watch over the tired truckers;
there is nothing but the sleepy towns
in valleys low and still;
nothing but rocks protruding from the side
of Interstate 81.
The bonfire was warm, the marshmallows gooey.
We all sat around the fire talking.
For many of us exams were over
and everyone would soon be returning home.
Above us the stars twinkled.
The only constellation I knew was Orion.
Why dont we walk down to the park? Emily said.
Itll be darker and we can see the stars.
I hadnt been down to the park in 4 ½ years.
To get there we walked by my old house.
I wasnt prepared to go by it at night.
In the dark with the lights off it looked unloved.
I feel behind the rest so they wouldnt see my tears.
My childhood had bee lived on these
the air tasted like rain.
a thunderhead hung ominously on the horizon.
it flashed like a lighthouse
as if the earth were a ship to be saved.
below, the earth was parched;
lips cracked, thirsting for life.
it gasped for air
for rain.
then the could cried.
it cried for the earth.
it cried because the earth could not breath.
it cried for life.
and the earth lived.