POETRY

Into the West

Sonnet Series 2023

Polaroid photo by author

The old road ran out, and there had been signs
along the way, but I ignored them all.
Nobody wants to believe at the time
that smooth sailing is destined for a squall.
Five summers we wandered from place to place,
my flight, his driving, both of us along
for the ride, each day supplying the pace
as it cracked open fresh. The past was gone.
Travel is a good way to heal. Instead
of dwelling, we became nomads, and met
truth head on. But grace we didn’t expect:
with each penitent sunset, fault faded.
Change became the adjustment, the station
where life relaunched from a firm foundation.

The traveling I’ve done (all riding shotgun in a Toyota Tundra) since 2018 has been a transformative experience for me. It spawned from a place of intense drama and loss, but it yielded blessings I never could have expected. Those road trips have been the impetus for a huge body of work in terms of my photography, plus they have been the inspiration for pages and pages of writing: not just poetry, but prose and journaling and…