Home Again (Day 589)

And suddenly, you were home again.

And below and all around you, lightning 

whipped the wind-scoured prairie.

And the sky turned violet, and then black, 

dusted with ribbons of galaxies.

And in the paddock at the end of the road, 

four white horses grazed.

And when you walked in their direction, 

you always stuffed carrots in your pockets.

And once, one of the horses had a snout 

full of porcupine quills.

And when summer came, folks sat out 

in their back yards until late.

And their kids, energized by by the cool air, 

made up games with complicated, 

ever-evolving rules.

And chiggers chewed your legs, leaving trails 

of hellish itching, until you were almost afraid 

of what you couldn’t see.

And in mid-summer, the rodeo, and hot dogs, 

and red-white-and-blue, and motorcycles, 

and dust mixed with sweat mixed with dust. 

And then the aspens turned a brilliant yellow.

And you imagined that sitting among them 

was like being inside the sun.

And then the snow came, always measured 

not in inches, but in feet.

And the cold was so dry, you could barely 

feel it until it was too late. 

And once, when you shoveled the driveway, 

your face froze, but you didn’t know.

And when you couldn’t move your mouth 

to answer a neighbor’s question, he sent you 

indoors to thaw out.

And then, one day, you packed your things 

in your car, and drove away.

And maybe you forgot to tell the hills 

and the prairie, because they didn’t know.

And even now, they are waiting for you 

to come home again.

(c) 2018, by Hannah Six

Image: Spearfish Falls, Spearfish Canyon, 

via TravelSouthDakota.com