There will always be
a Mylar balloon
in the frame
of the floodplain,
broken glass,
power lines,
a bulldozer.
We crop them out
for the ‘gram
but they hover
just over
our tilted shoulders.
The world reshapes
around and with us.
Rabbits in spring
leap from a tangle
of branches and empties.
Egret sidles up to a dam,
side-eyes it.
Hard to tell
what’s appreciation
and what’s disdain.
A floodtide
that reshapes
who holds power
and how
would do so much more
than another day
to bag up
beer bottles
though we will never
run out of
things to carry away
Hike: Calabacillas Arroyo, Rio Grande
Length: 4 miles
Difficulty: easy
Trail traffic: very light
Creatures seen/heard: lizards, butterflies, cottontail, crows, hawks, ducks, geese, egrets, black-capped chickadee, finches, flycatchers
Woman Seeks Elevation 