(Okay so wordpress screwed up my html and the spacing of this poem got screwed up. But I sort of like the random effect. Just pretend this is High Poetry and I meant it to be like this. This poem is about a park in Door County)
At Cave Point
It was a relief
40 or 50 feet past the imposing sign that said:
“Danger – Cliffs!”
when the high path that we were on
With our children
Who were not skilled with step
bent down closer to the flat uneven rocks
which gripped the Great Lake
and we could let go of the small grasping hands
of 3 who had experienced healthy fear
as they peered over and saw how far above the pounding waves
they stood.
Now that we were much lower our boys were crawling around
the rough rocks
And gazing out at the endless undulating body of water
And noting with interest the claw of a crawfish
And crawling in
the cave from which the Park got its title
Now they were free to explore and stare
And crawl
through openings in the rock
And ask hopeful,
thoughtful questions
And consider the
Lake’s Depth and Breadth
And here is a rock I can add to the mass of the water
And what is the story behind this wine bottle cork that we
found?
And how much of this would we not be able to traverse if
the water level wasn’t so low?
We are comforted as we stand as a lone family,
We are guarded by the wall of trees standing behind us
Like sentries
From all that we have escaped to get here
So that we may experience peace.
But
In the back of our minds, we have the knowledge that
At the time of our departure
We will have to climb up and again pass by the cliffs
And experience
the fear and momentary despair
Of the
knowledge of certain death
If one of
us is careless
And allows
our foot to slip
On the way to our van so we can drive away
We will just have to keep our children in hand.
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