A Step Away Poem by Kel Rios

one world
one step
away

We talked about D.C.
and the G8
metal clamps biting into the snow's surface

Georgetown and Arlington
a branch gives with
yesterday's crystaline weight

Sparkling powder shifts
cascading
to the ground
as our poles sink

down

In a hollow
Brigette takes our picture
and shares hers
of Austria and
Switzerland
wie gehts es dir
and
auf wiedersehen

I'm seeing Heidi
in the hills
and cows with bells
lowing in the valleys

Mental maps
criss cross
a pale blue sky
uruguayan turquoise
we talk of Tatiana
and Argentina

Peering over a lonesome draw
I'm seeing out across
the Slieve Bloom Mountains
and my ancestors

Somewhere in this whitewhashed scape
fiddles play
a haunting tune of late December
surrounding us

Feet rise and fall
following after
the shadows
strides
of some other wanderer

trekker

Seeking solitude
or perhaps companionship
a parsimony of conversation
or dialogue

Whether from our mouths
or
tales on the wind
here in God's country