Boy trails old man
along stream bed
cuts into damp soil
slips sapling into crevice
weighs heel to seal the earth

trails further
pausing when old man pauses
cutting when old man cuts
slipping when old man slips
heeling when old man heels

And so it goes
all afternoon
and into night
how trees grow

how earth holds
pieces of the wild
lays down one path
and then another on top

empty space into boy
boy into man
man into old man
old man into empty space

empty space into prairie
prairie into farm
farm into town
town into empty space

layer upon layer
stored in heart and mind
between one eternity
and another

how trees grow
into night
across afternoon
spiraling easy
through time

Fathers Day, 2015