The Trail Companion

     by Janice Dabney

You sit on beach chairs in the creek
Knees covered with sun, and toes
Smoothed by slow water. No fish
You tell the men who bring their lines
Mid-day, moving your feet
To show the only presence of life in these waters

And as the hours pass you peel
Weeks off. The water marks
Time on your body
In concentric motion
As the redwoods of Calavaras have shown age
For centuries past.

Our age is not linear.
With these women we form circles
In our eyes, fingertips, the soft touch
Of our breasts and thighs.
We gather sky in our arms
And imprint the ground with our velvet toes

     Janice Dabney is native Californian who has published her poetry in numerous journals, including Poetry Northwest and Santa Clara Review. She works as a safety coordinator at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

© 1999 by Janice Dabney. Reprinted by permission.

Note from the Literary Editor

Bear Following Birds - Maya Khosla

Union Valley Reservoir - Crystal Koch

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