Up Here!

 

Like tree frogs, these clambering
grandkids, clinging to the branches,
chirping delight as wind plays
with shadow—my genes at work,
for once I too could take any tree’s
measure and breadth, scale its length,
sail its height into mindless contentment,
the earth below the gritty antithesis
of leaf and sky and the body’s grasp
on ethereal, elemental bliss.
Still, less a weathered and creaky
old man I feel than a bold captain
of a clambering frog army
advancing ever upward, the tickle-
fingering breeze sparking joy as we
share each splendid moment.
So hear us now, brash and lowly world,
as we sky and sway,
the breath in our throats so rare
it leaps from us in song.