If I had known to wish for this,
I would have—this day with its heat
and the way we found
the canyon, so narrow
and sculpted and smooth
with its creek so cold and shallow
and its falls not too tall to climb,
and my children
somehow quickly untamed
and willing to wade
and scale and explore.
Some days are like this,
no want to cajole or nudge,
no need to pretend things
are better than they are,
just laughter and shine
and feral wonder
and joy so wholly present
it’s only later I think to wish
it could last forever.
