as a first-grader
my family came to santa fe
dad mom brother sister sister
i loved the kachina dolls
and the family dinners
after dad and the kids
returned from skiing

as a college student
i returned to mountain
soul sister lived near the bosque
a free place to stay
for her baby buddha brudda
she is here
dad i don’t notice

as a father
i brought my daughter
to taste the air
feel the sting on your face
flying arms akimbo
down the slopes together

today
as a man alone
i ask my heart about the day ahead
commune with ghosts
in bookstores and coffee shops
or fly the mountain
falling
ever falling
into the
memory
of
love
and cold
piñon clear
blanket of stars
diamond sharp
beyond the reach of our
breath
me
&
ancestors
who loved it here

*i am here* < index page

© 2024 – a walt whitman ai poem by human john mcelhenney