The posting of a new work on the subject of country roads earlier today put the poet in mind of this favorite.

*****

Recorded Reading (1:51): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9arimaj7pk3ppetgdaj2i/taking-a-walk-with-grand-dad.mp3?rlkey=hgb5c77qph1pimu41xtkz4z75&dl=0

*****

taking a walk with grand dad

some of these elderly
country gentlemen
still know how to take a walk
with a kid

ambling along
~ at a kid’s amble
not a grownup’s ~

they pause
they gesture
they point up ahead

then the kid
points and gestures too
just like grand dad

jams his little hand
in his little pocket
just like grand dad

sometimes the kid
points or gestures first
just like grand dad

grand dad doesn’t
do the same afterward himself,
that wouldn’t be appropriate, but

he reacts
he turns
he looks

he nods
he smiles and agrees
he ambles onward

~ at a kid’s amble
not a grownup’s ~
oh

what
a
show!

it takes
just about forever
for the two of them just to
get down one block

a vision of
peace
and happiness…

to the kid
they’re just two
grownup guys out for a stroll

but grand dad knows
no matter how often repeated
this priceless

treasure
of a moment
will never return

*****

This poet presently lives at a fraction of her nation’s poverty level.

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