This past Monday night at my weekly writers group, we were asked to either write a poem or find a previously written poem about travel, as we were discussing Walt Whitman and his epic poem "Song of the Open Road." I undertook the task of writing one. I do not write poetry, but I did have an idea that I wished to put to paper.
I've done my fair share of traveling, and so I based this poem on a place I love and about a particular trip I took with a certain companion. It was October of 2012 and I took a trip to Fort Collins, Colorado with my long-time pal, Jasmine. She was my dog of 14 years. She passed away a little over a year later and taking that trip meant a lot to me because I knew it meant something. Perhaps something in dog years. And definitely something to my human years.
We visited Fort Collins, Cheyenne, Estes Park, along with other small stops in between. We fly-fished, ran through the Rocky Mountain National Park, ate, napped, strolled, and even went to the New Belgium Brewery together. It was a special trip to say the least and so I put together a little poem with Whitman as slight inspiration.
Memories for After
Come on! Come on! We go!
A bright and early start for time has nearly left us wanting
You old and yet so young
Young at heart and full of life
Come! Let’s go — you beautiful girl
My companion. My friend. My Camerado!
The roaring hills — the flat lands
The mountains and the flat lands
The deer and the cows
The elk and the crow
The snow and the sun
The wind and the calm
The day and the night
Come now, lovely friend — I have a feeling
I know this will be our last — our triumph to remember
Have a drink with me — have a nap
Fish with me, walk with me
I will talk and you listen — for you always listen well
We’ll find a horizon we prefer
We’ll find a sky we prefer
We’ll find our way through the beaten path — the outlaid path
I will not hold you back
You are free — more free than you’ve ever been
Run, run, run
The wind will push you along your way
Nature will guide you where to go
A weary smile from a long day
A long day journeying, seeing, being, doing, having, living
We will sit a moment — confess whatever needs confessing
I will embrace you because you are my friend — the very best of a friend
A constant companion — even after
Even after
After is not here though
It will wait — it must wait
It will wait for you — I will wait all day, all night
I will not rush this
I know the greatness — the importance of this journey
The sun is not formidable — I do not fear it
It goes down but it will return again
You are here now and after will wait
It will wait for us
Sickness, disease, age — they can wait
Death can wait — it, like the sun, can come around another time
Not now, not here
The hand it shakes will not be yours
Not today and not tomorrow
For the mountain awaits — the hills await
The stream, the deer, the ram, the falcon and hawk,
The day awaits and we will meet it
And the sun will shine on our faces
It will smile upon us and we will smile upon it
For a journey — our journey has arrived
Oh what joy it brings — what memories we will have
Even after you sleep — I will remember them
I will embrace them
And you will live — even long after
You will live
And the moments we have here — the memories we make here — they will remain
They will remain here — even after the sun sleeps
And you sleep
And I sleep
Come on! Come on! We go!