Transient

My photos filled six albums
Pages of red rocks and granite
cliffs, waves and spindrift stopped mid-air

When I tired of landscapes
barren of context
I found photos of people

Look at this photo of John,
his wife, and seven children
Thirty-five years ago John knew
how to walk on his hands
with his feet straight up in the air
He once stuffed his mouth
with five pieces of Double Bubble gum,
flew paper airplanes from the rooftop,
and quoted baseball statistics


Now he home schools his children, and
lives in the mountains near a creek
He knows the names of plants
and the way creeks sound at night
His children memorize Bible verses
and recite the books of the Bible

John, did you keep your
Reggie Jackson baseball card?