the miracle of flight
unraveled in a big can of baked beans

pulsing connections

terminals and the salty sweat of a soft pretzel on the run

Sanskrit chants remove obstacles

promise wheels down

joy & bliss or at least some

om shanti om
you’ll grow while I’m gone

tell stories of swim lessons

episodes and the new texture pack on your list

what I do I do for you

how might I sing that in Sanskrit
I only know what I gave you these four days on soil

a marshmallow named Marvin who’s best friends with Arnold the asparagus

how their band brought everyone together for the big field trip

the nightmares on request of Annie the electric guitar-playing apple who stumbled into an easy bake oven and came out a pie much to your astonishment and

I can’t breathe through the laughter
There were cannonball demonstrations on a cloudy day

you in repose with a green cookie shake

fries seeping through brown paper on the dashboard

we made characters out of sharpies, napkins, coffee jackets

I nursed your eye

warm washcloth and headbandz

guessing cards on my head

do I have fur

legs

am I a vegetable

til you beg for more story twists

poor Carlie the cookie found the summer area at the store and took the twisty slide right into a glass of milk where the giant hand came down and

will you remember water balloons and wrestling matches with your mama the night before she boards another plane

or the stories I tell you on demand
or the late night snack attacks

details don’t matter because you know me

always resting in your center

bear

butterfly

fig tree
this is the alchemy of love

upended by circumstances

the map we can’t see with our eyes

just trusting we found home

in sand, mountains and your mama’s poor imitation of ground squirrels
you tell me the time will go quickly

murmuring this stinks in case you didn’t know

I know, my love

the echo of surrender

we find magic in portals and screens

your papa planted firmly

keeping us rooted in

kale shakes

gigantic cookies shaped like spider-man
what you don’t know is

I’m teaching you how to show up

when I show up

for you

for shuttles, flights and flip charts

I bring your rocks with me

sacred altars to us

you tell me

throw this one on the bed when you’re mad

hold this one to make you happy

you stay at my center

smoothing out the parts that cry for storyline and sweatpants
show up my son

allow for delight

see the eyes of all you meet

their hearts will follow

say thank you

for in every moment lies a gift

even when I’m missing you

because in that

lies the home we built with papa

it’s our house of gold

Legos, wetsuit, dodgeball

and that grid on the mantle

calling out

brave love

brave, brave love