A BLESSING

© Jane Piirto. All Rights Reserved

uprooted trees

sawed into logs

we wander

far from our source

our houses abandoned

heedless of our souls

we break ground

for new foundations

driving

in lake effect snowsquall

up the peninsulas

between the lakes

Erie Huron

Michigan Superior

across the spangled Bridge

the deep black straits below

into dense deer-dangerous forests

an eerie

Spike and I

200 miles to go

sliding on unplowed roads

snowstorm beating

wipers slapping

music drumming

I come each season

to my old bed

in my old room

near the ancient red bluff

my mother’s dog jumps

my mother feeds me

pea soup, rye bread and tea

in the morning

small languid snow falls

slow winter dawn lifts

on old apple trees

on a white hill

the old house sighs

you are home.

this, at least,

has not changed.