Rising from a dream,
Noticing a sky full of stars,
I look over and Jason met my eye
We go outside to look,
my oldest son following silently
We all marveled at the detail
Of the galaxy above us
And go back to sleep in awe
Morning’s first light,
We sneak away for a daybreak drive
Blue Grosbeak male singing a song in a cedar
The female sits close, admiring
A whistle in nearby brush
reveals the Northern Bobwhite
Elusive little quail,
looking right at us just feet away
Trails stretch off invitingly in the distance
Red rock canyons rising up all around us
But we don’t have the time to explore it all
Just these things:
Bison shaking their shaggy heads
Rolling in big patches of warmed dirt
Their calves standing chest high in Lake Theo
Cooling off from a summer sun
We saw a ladybug that morning
On our way back up from swimming in the lake
The youngest wanted to keep it
“Wouldn’t it be great if ladybugs were immortal?”, he asked
I try to imagine a world
Where ladybugs never die
All good things must come to an end, my son
And likewise, too soon, our time at Caprock Canyons
But this is how it ends:
With me, sitting in the morning sun
Watching prairie dogs cavort
Whistling alerts for kids on bikes
Freshly washed hair blowing in my face
Birds singing, a scissortail flying low
Searching for bugs
Bees, crickets, horseflies all humming a tune
A goodbye lullaby
For a park that won our heart
