On Lake Sunapee, Winter 2000

well the hills are dense with the grass of pines young and tall
& the snow here hangs along the roads and paths where it has been stacked high
I cruise slowly on the well kept roads, making my journey take longer
than it could. My heart is fractious within my frame. I approach the condo
north of Sunapee, the light beginning to fade this early spring evening.

You are there, in the woods where you were a child. In the small house
you lived in, through many days innocent and fun. I rejoice in your company
in this room looking out upon Lake Sunapee. The pines and the birches
are the best possible allies in this life. Your picture on the wall when you were
twelve still moves me to tears. What a charming woman you have always been.

I wish Paige were here, or we had a child, or life was more stable than it is.
But I persevere, take my trek to the gun factory, find solace in the sun
setting through the myriad trees. Soon I will be with you, Kimberly. Soon
I will be whole again, here in the northern kingdom, here in the Algonquin's refuge.
Soon, in Sunapee, I will heal this day's odd wounds and find you, my reason.

2/2000